Uprising
by Galefire
Summary: "It can't be too bad," Lyra would remind herself, trying her best to calm her own anxiety. All they had to do was go to Ecruteak city, do some investigating, then get out as soon as possible. And besides, Gold couldn't screw up THAT badly! ... Could he?
1. Chapter 1: Doubts and Horrors

**Seriously Galefire? ANOTHER story? **

**Well, uh, yes. But this one has a good reason for me to start it! **

**Sorta. **

**Kinda. **

**Not really, but still.**

**Don't worry, I'll finish all my other ones. This one's gonna be short anyways. **

**Now, what's my reason for starting this? Well, I recently beat my copy of Soul Silver using only a Jumpluff, and I felt it was something worth celebrating! Even though this has nothing to do with Jumpluff... **

**Everybody give a round of applause for Fluffy the Jumpluff! **

**Moving on, I'm just going to clear up that this is NOT based off the Pokemon manga, as much as I love it, but the games Pokemon Soul Silver and Heart Gold, which should be odvious since I'm using the name Lyra. All character traits and personalitys are based off of what I guessed they would be before I even knew of the manga, or in other words, my Headcanon. **

**But wait, if I'm using the name Lyra, why am I calling the boy Gold instead of Ethan? **

**... **

**Umm... **

**Disclaimer: Pokemon is not property of me. Seriously, what gave you that idea? **

**...That was a long authors note...**

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Lyra awoke to the sound of a loud, obnoxious rigging bursting out from beside her, echoing around her small room in an irritating fashion.

The brown haired girl let out a long, irritated groan, clear blue eyes slowly cracking open as she pushed her dark crimson covers off her still tired body, where they landed on the wooden floor with a muffled "_thump_!" Blinking the bleariness out of her vision, Lyra reached her hand towards her Pokegear, the odvious source of the infuriating noise. The watch-like device slipped into the palm of her hand, the cool metal causing her to shiver as she brought it into her line of vision. Lyra rubbed her eyes, making sure she saw the time clearly.

5:00 A.M.

"Are you serious?" She muttered crossly, the ringing temporarily falling dead to her ears as she starred at the numbers. Sure, some of the people she had on there would call her at early times in the morning, _*Cough*Joey*Cough*_, but this was ridiculous!

Her cerulean gaze fell down to check who was calling, the result only causing her to groan again.

Gold.

Of course.

Who else would pull something like this other then him? If there was anything he wasn't know for, it was maturity.

And he was known for a LOT.

Deciding it was problably just best to play along with whatever crazy scheme he had gotten himself into, she clicked the "talk" button, raising the Pokegear to her mouth.

"Can I help you?" She hissed through gritted teeth, putting extra care into seeping as much excess maliciousness into her tone as possible.

"Lyra?! Is that you?!" Lyra cringed as his stunningly boisterous voice screamed out form her speakers. He ALWAYS put his mouth way to close to the speakers; his normal voice was loud enough, thank you very much.

She sighed wistfully. "No Gold, it's your local cat ranch, would you like to order a cabbage?"

There was a pause, as he was odviously trying to figure what in Arceus' name she had just said, before merely going with a dumbfounded "What?"

"I was joking. Yes, it's me." Seriously, who the hell did he expect to pick up?

"Oh great!" Gold exclaimed, odviously relieved. "Because I was worried I had called the wrong number and..." He went on, ranting.

Ah. That explained it. "Get on with it! Why did you decided to call me at such an ungodly time of the morning?!" Lyra practically growled.

"Hey! It wasn't my decision!" Gold snapped back. "Professor Oak wants to speak with us, we're supposed to meet up in Elm's lab or something."

Lyra blinked in confusion. If that was true, why couldn't he have just called her to speak? It wasn't that difficult, since he had her number registered into his own Pokegear, as did he Gold's.

Gold wasn't done yet. "He said it's something REALLY important," He put a lot of extra emphases on his words, "And he had to talk with us in person... And... him..." He broke off, sounding like he'd just bitten into an especially sour lemon.

Lyra cocked her head, not understanding. "...Who?"

"Silver." Came the bitter reply.

The brown haired girl knew what he was talking about instantly. The rival ship between Gold and Silver had been going on since the beginning of both their journeys, and it certainly wasn't a friendly one. Gold absolutely despised doing anything with the red haired boy, to the point where it had almost gotten in the way of their duties as Dexholders (more so Gold's), and had caused numerous problems that Lyra forced herself to never recall.

With a quick strech and a light yawn, the girl stood up from her bed, placing her large white hat atop her brown hair, making sure her pigtails were visible from the sides, as they always were when she went out in public.

"I'll be there Gold," She promised, gently adjusting her headgear. "When does he want me over?"

"Now."

"Now?"

"Yep," His response was casual. "It's apparently some kind of an emergency."

Lyra, who had been putting on her knee length socks at the time, froze, eyes wide with shock. "Gold, are you serious? Did he actually say that?!"

"Yeah?" There was a note of confusion in his voice at her anxious reply. "What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" Her tone mirrored his in an almost mocking way. "What you just said is the big deal! This is professor Oak we're talking about! He doesn't play around Gold!"

"M'hmm," Gold didn't sound convinced. "Are you coming over or not?"

Lyra rolled her eyes, letting another sigh escape her lips. "Give me twenty minutes, I'll be there a soon as I can."

"Great!" The boy exclaimed, before abruptly hanging up.

Lyra set the device down on her bedside table, where it had been before, feeling a sense of dread rising up inside. Despite what Gold thought, and Arceaus knows what he thought, she was sure that Professor Oak meant what he said about the situation, and that it REALLY was serious.

Lyra closed her eyes, praying that if she was right, Gold wouldn't be involved.

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Gold moaned loudly, trying his best to show off how bored he was, but only managed to receive angry looks from the other two males currently occupying the New Bark Town residential lab. Giving up, he went back to the "_fun fun fun_!" activity of leaning on some random machine, starring off into nothing.

Professor Oak, who had spent the whole time typing nervously on one of Elm's multiple computers, kept glancing up a Gold, eyes narrowed suspiciously. It was only as if he expected every machine in the lab to spontaneously combust, just for the pure reason that Gold was in a five mile radius.

The boy could only assume he still wasn't over the time that he had accidentally released one of Oak's very rare Pokemon, despite the thousands of times he had apologized.

Green Dragonite's weren't that uncommon anyways, so what was his deal?

Catching the Professor's eye, he couldn't help but speak up. "What?"

Oak turned away from whatever he was doing, shaking his head. "Gold, are you SURE you called Lyra? She's taking an awful long time..."

"I know I did! She was all like "Ooh, cat ranches and cabbage," and then I said "Lyra, get over here!" but then she started to-"

The professor held up his hands. " Alright, alright, I get it." Without another word, he flipped over back to his work, the room falling silent once more.

Gold stuck his tongue out as he turned his back, earning a disapproving snort from the red haired trainer at the back of the room.

The boy spun around angrily, growling as the offender entered his line of vision.

Silver.

Something about the elder male always riled him up; no matter what he was doing, he preformed the task with such infuriating arrogance it had become almost impossible for Gold to put up with. Even on word out of his mouth made the black haired boy want to start a fight right then and there, no matter the consequences.

Gold grit his teeth together. "What was that for, jerk?!"

Silver look away, content on merely giving him the cold shoulder.

Gold couldn't help himself. Muttering curses under his breath, he stormed over to his rival, balling his fists in anger.

Oak looked up for a moment. "Gold..." He said in a warning tone.

Silver cast the black haired boy a passing glance, but didn't make any further movements.

Standing before him, Gold hissed in an outraged tone. "Do you have a problem, Silver?"

"Yes, actually, I have quite a large problem," He gave the younger boy a cold glance out of one eye. "Almost as huge as your problem with battling."

"Silver." Oak warned sharply, about ready to rise from his desk.

Gold felt his face go red with anger. He suddenly felt an overflowing hatred for the fact that the top of his head didn't even reach Silver's shoulders, and that the redhead could stare down at him with such ease.

"Are you suggesting I'm bad at battling?!" Gold practically snarled, glaring up at him.

"Maybe," Silver avoided his glance with a smirk, almost as if the black haired boy wasn't worthy enough to look him in the eyes. Or at least, that's how Gold took it.

"Your just jealous _I_ was the last one see "_him_", and you weren't, aren't you Silver?" Yes. He went there. The one trick he knew could easily break his rival's calm demeanour.

Silver snapped his head in his direction, namesake eyes filling up with unspeakable rage. Without a moment of hesitation, he grabbed Gold by his crimson jacket, yanking him forward mercilessly.

"Look," He spat at the younger trainer, trembling with fury. "I do not care about what happened, I do not care that you are famous despite not being able to fight your way out of a paper bag, and I do not give a crap about anything that has to do with that, am I clear?!"

Gold fought the urge to shrink under his gaze. Silver could be downright terrifying when he wanted to.

"I could beat you in a battle anytime!" Gold boasted forcefully, secretly hoping Silver wouldn't take that as a challenge.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Oak shouted from the other edge of the room, rising up from his chair.

Silver released Gold, casting the professor a bored look, as the younger trainer couldn't help but feel relived.

Glad he had at least saved Gold from having his skull pounded into next week, Oak went on, still fuming. "Are you two really unable to go a whole five minutes without fighting? Perhaps I should just leave what I have planned for Lyra alone..."

"No!" Gold exclaimed hastily. Beside him, Silver seemed to straighten up, though choosing to remain silent.

"Good, because I wouldn't let her anyways." He sat back down.

Gold blinked. "Wait, wha-"

Suddenly, the door to the lab flew open, smashing against the wall behind with a loud crash. All three heads turned to see Lyra, standing red-faced at the doorway, hair unbrushed and her clothes wrinkled and untidy. She held her hand upon the doorframe for support, panting heavily as if she has just sprinted all the way from her house to the lab, which, knowing her, she probably had.

"I'm here!" She gasped, stumbling forwards. "I'm here! Don't worry!"

"Lyra!" Gold cried joyously, eyes sparkling. As Silver, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and looked away.

"About time..." He muttered, getting a dirty look from Gold, which he ignored.

Regaining her balance as well as her composure, the brown haired girl walked forwards, eyes focused on Professor Oak the entire time.

"So. What did you call us here for?" Lyra asked curiously, taking a place between Gold and Silver.

The professor stood up from his desk, looking at them all with a remarkable serious expression: eyebrows arched, gaze hard, mouth pulled down into something that resembled a disapproving scowl. Placing his arms behind his back, he stalked towards them, thinking.

"You see," He began thoughtfully, pacing back and fourth. "There have been some... 'speculations', you could say, that have been reported by numerous residents of Ecruteak city, suggesting that-"

"Suggesting that a new, powerful legendary, that could easily beat the both of Lugua and Ho-oh without even breaking a sweat, has appeared in the area, and is waiting for the strongest trainer in the region to capture it?" Gold cut in hopefully.

Lyra slapped herself in the face, groaning. Gold and his little fantasies.

Professor Oak's expression darkened. "Gold. What have I said about talking out of place?"

"Sorry..." The youngest trainer muttered, though didn't sound sorry in the slightest.

Lyra exchanged a wistful glance with Silver. Gold's behaviour got to be ridiculous at times, to the point where it was almost like talking to a five year old. It was these kind of actions that made the two wonder how he had even gotten himself a Pokedex in the first place.

"Thank you," Oak went on, keeping a wary eye on the black haired boy. "As I was trying to say, people are suggesting that..." He shook his head. "... That team Rocket has returned."

"WHAT?!" Gold and Lyra shouted at the same time, even Silver looking utterly shocked.

Oak gave the impression he had expected these reactions. "Now it's only a speculation, but yes, I am afraid that is what is being said." His expression grew grim.

"B-but that's..." Lyra couldn't bring herself to finish.

Thankfully, Gold pulled through for her. "Impossible!" He protested. "They have to be wrong! There's no way!"

Lyra frowned. Sort of.

The professor looked them in the eyes. He was dead serious. "If they are correct, they shall rise back stronger then ever. For once, team Rocket isn't fooling around. In fact, this could be the most dangerous missions a Dexholder has ever had to endure."

The three trainers stood in silence, waiting for him to go on.

Oak sighed, as if he hasn't wanted it to come to this. "We need you three to investigate, and if suspicious are confirmed, take them down once more."

There was a pause, and then:

"Wait, us THREE?!" Silver and Lyra gaped in unison.

Gold blinked up at them curiously.

"Yes, of course." The professor shared the same confusion.

Lyra shuffled her feet awkwardly. "P-Professor, can I talk to you," She looked at the other two. "In private?"

"Of course," He nodded. "Gold, Silver, please take to the other corner of the room, and for goddess sake, can you at least try not to tear each other apart?"

Silver nodded obediently, slowly pacing over to his designated area, whereas Gold followed more hesitantly, seeming a tad suspicious. Only about five seconds had passed before the two started bickering.

Lyra looked away, turning to face the professor.

"Look, Oak, I trust you and all, but are you 100% sure that taking Gold along with us is the best idea?"

He raised an eyebrow. "But of course. He IS a fellow dexholder, is he not?"

"Well, yes..." Lyra winced, squeezing her eyes shut. She hated contradicting the Professor, as she had quite a lot of respect for him. However, no matter how hard she thought about it, the brown haired girl couldn't understand why he thought it was a good idea to send Gold with them. At the age of 15, herself and Silver were excellent candidates for the job, being some of the oldest to possess a Pokedex, but Gold was a whole four years younger then them! Lyra bit her lip. "But isn't he kind of... Young? You said yourself this mission would be far from easy."

The look she received was far from the one she expected. Instead of an understanding, considerate one, what she got was cold, icy, even disappointed.

"Lyra," his tone was harsh. "He has proved time and time again that he is just as capable as you two are. You should know better then anyone, having practically traveled with him almost a year ago, hmm?"

"Yes, but-"

"No buts! I have out the same amount of faith in him as I have in you, and he is going to come with you. End. Of. Story."

Lyra opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't think of what to say in response, so merely decided to take the smart route a remain silent. As she walked back with Oak to meet with the others, who were once again, ready to tear each others throats out, there was only one thought running through her mind.

"Oak, I pray to Arceus, that no matter how disastrous your decision seems, you'll end up being in the right, just like you always are."

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**And suggestions? Critiques? Comments? Don't be afraid to say! **

**Thanks for reading! **

**~*Galefire* **


	2. Chapter 2: Lines of Red

**My spelling was weird in the last chapter. o-o**

**Anyways, I'm back. With a new chapter.**

**Yay?**

**Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited and/or followed the last chapter! It means a lot to me!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not going to try to be funny here (and fail, obviously.) This is a serious story. I do not own Pokemon. I wish I did, though. **

**Enjoy!**

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The harsh winds, laced with an icy coldness, battered against Lyra as she flew upon the rainbow coloured Phoenix she possessed, the two males she was expected to work with following in her wake. The dark grey clouds of the high altitude zoomed past her, forcing her to squint to see further then an arm-length ahead of her. Nervously, she flipped her head back to check on them, making sure that her companions hadn't attempted to murder each other in the few seconds she had her back turned.

Silver had his normal, monotone expression set upon his face, with his eyes lightly narrowed and his lips forming a straight line. Below him, Lugia let out a happy roar, much to the annoyance of it's red haired owner, clearly overjoyed to be seeing Lyra's Ho-Oh again.

Gold, however, was not doing so well. He clung desperately with pale, shaking hands to the downy white feathers of his Togekiss, trembling visibly. Lyra could see, even from the slight distance between them, that the younger trainer's face had lost a lot of its colour; sweat pouring down it like a waterfall.

The brown haired girl couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. Gold's fear of heights had been something that had followed him throughout his entire life, like a large rock he just couldn't seem to get over. And considering the fact that his Togekiss was rather small, which was saying something considering it's species, and how high they were up in the air, this certainly wasn't doing him justice.

"Gold, are you okay?" She called over the roar of the gales.

The young trainer looked up, panic sparking in his eyes. "P-perfectly a-a-alright!" He barely managed to chock out, quickly burying his face deep into the little white Pokemon's back. From beside him, Silver rolled his eyes.

Lyra sighed, before looking down at the Ho-Oh she was riding on. The orange legendary was flying beautifully; it's large wings soaring gracefully, even through the tough surroundings. Green eyes blinked contently, observing as much as their surroundings as possible.

"What about you, Ho-Oh?" The legendary's trainer asked warmly. "How are you holding up?"

Ho-Oh pet out an excited call, it's huge wings pumping faster and faster, quickly gaining speed.

Lyra's eyes narrowed, a confident smile spreading across her face. "Oh I see, you wanna go faster, eh?" She looked over her shoulder again, giving the other two a knowing smirk. "But can the others keep up?"

"Oh Arceus, no..." Gold whispered, tightening his grip as Togekiss' speed accelerated.

Silver looked taken aback for a second, before his expression mirrored hers. Flashing his legendary a quick hand symbol, the white dragon sped up, determined to catch up with its sunset coloured counterpart.

Sensing the two gaining on her, Lyra exchanged a glance with her Pokemon, giving it a small wink.

"Let's do this."

The bird sped up, the scenery blurring to Lyra's eyes, her hair battering against the side of her face. She bent down, pressing against Ho-Oh's soft crimson feathers in an attempt to gain speed. Every time she raced with Silver, he would always prove himself victorious, no matter how close the match was. Ho-Oh had just never been able to keep up with the awe striking speeds of the great legendary, Lugia.

'_But not today,'_ She thought, forcing herself not to look back to check the rival's position. _'Today, we will prove-'_

"TOGEKISS COULD YOU PLEASE SLOW DOWN!" She heard Gold scream, terror apparent in his shaking voice. Lyra winced as she saw a sneaky grin spread across the white Pokemon's face, eyes shifting in their sockets. Gold's Togekiss had to be one the most mischievous creatures Lyra had ever meet in her entire life. It was without a doubt planning to play some rather rude trick on its trainer, knowing full well about it's trainer's fear.

With a sound that vaguely resembled laughter, Togekiss slowed its pace, giving its trainer a moment to breath, before completely flipping over entirely. Silver watched with clear amusement as the younger trainer once again began to panic, much to Lyra's annoyance.

"Settle down Gold! It's okay!" She called, hoping to calm him down, but to no avail.

The black haired boy looked like he was about to respond, but seemed unable to form words. He was beginning to look physically ill.

Lyra sighed. This was never how she wanted to start a mission, not to mention one of such importance. Forcing Ho-Oh to slow down, she flew in sync with the other Dexholder, silently cursing his Togekiss.

"Togekiss!" She snapped, forcing her expression to be as harsh as possible. "Stop that right now miss!"

The Togekiss stuck her tongue out, completely ignoring her order.

Lyra groaned. "You see Gold, this is why you don't baby your Pokemon!" Naturally, he said nothing in response, but she could tell by the slight shift in his expression that he had heard her. Deciding to make quick work of helping him out, she tore her gaze away from the white creature, instead focusing on the Ho-Oh that was beneath her.

"Hey Ho-Oh! You wouldn't mind firing off a Sacred Fire, would you?" She gave the Pokemon a wink in response to its horrified expression. Understanding instantly, it replied with a little nod, before turning to the female Togekiss, emerald eyes narrowed.

"NO!" Gold screamed, turning a terrible shade of white. "P-PLEASE LYRA! I-IF YOU HIT HER, S-SHE'LL LET G-GO A-A-AND-"

"GOLD! Shut up, would you?!" She snapped, feeling uncannily short with him. He flinched, clearly scared out of his wits, hands digging deeply into his Pokemon's back. Togekiss shared the same expression as a bright glow emerged from the back of the great birds throat, aimed right at her. With a final sigh of defeat, the white Pokemon flipped back over, her trainer taking deep, slow breaths of relief.

Satisfied, Lyra called off the attack, turning her glance away from her black haired friend...

Only to see Silver and Lugia a ways ahead, looking about ready to go into the final dive leading to their destination. The brown haired girl groaned. Her ONE chance, the ONE time she had a head start, and she BLEW it! All because of some STUPID Togekiss!

'_No.'_ Lyra felt determination flood through her, narrowing her eyes. '_This_ _isn't over yet!'_ She gripped Ho-Oh's neck firmly. "You ready, buddy?"

The orange phoenix let out a joyous song, voice laced with confidence. Lyra understood immediately. Ho-Oh pumped its two large wings powerfully, nearly sending Gold and his Togekiss flying back. The force sent them thrusting forward, so far even that the tip of Ho-Oh's beak nearly touched the pure white tail feathers of Lugia, just from one simple stroke. Silver turned his head, sensing their presence. Shiny gray eyes met hers, blinking in an almost surprised manor. A smirk crossed his face, however, unlike his usual expression, this one held hints of friendliness and warmth.

Flashing a hand out to inform his ride, he grinned. "See you later." Before the large dragon pulled its wings close to its graceful body, forming into a perfect streamline shape, then disappearing beneath the gray blanket of clouds.

Lyra blinked, before quickly jumping into action. "Come on Ho-Oh, dive!" She commanded, making sure her hold on its neck was tight enough for the upcoming shift of gravity. With a screech of clear rage, Ho-Oh followed the roll of its counterpart, the heavy force of the wind nearly knocking the girl free of her Pokemon. The clouds around them slowly blended into a smooth smoky colour. It was a merely sign of the ridiculous speed they were reaching. As the trainer and bird burst roughly through the overcast sky, it became apparent to the both of them how close they were to sweet victory. Each legendary's neck was aliened with one another, the trainers locked vision, both sharing the same look of pure wanting. The ground spiraled closer and closer with each passing second, and Lyra felt her heart beat rising. She was tempted to signal Ho-Oh to pull in, but at the same time, she knew the first one to do so would be the loser. It had turned from an innocent race, to a dangerous, potentially life-threatening game of chicken. Ho-Oh cast her a terrified glance. It wanted her to stop.

Lyra gave a low-sound sigh of defeat. Without a moment to spare, she gave a light tug on her Pokemon's neck feathers, a signal for it to pull out of the dive. Ho-Oh let out a little sound of pure relief, stretching its wings out and slowing their descend greatly. Across from her, Lyra saw Silver do the same, only moments after, feeling her heart sink as she saw Ligia touch the ground a mere split-second before her own legendary.

It was always the same. She never won.

"Heh... Another win for you, eh?" Lyra laughed, albeit a little sadly as she slowly made her way off of Ho-Oh.

Silver nodded silently, acting as if it didn't matter even the slightest to him. However, Lyra knew from the look in his eyes that he was just a relieved he kept his streak as she was disappointed that she didn't break her own.

She landed on the earth with a '_thump_!', stretching out her limbs shortly afterwards.

"Oh well," The girl formed her arms into a half-hearted shrugging motion. "Good game." She held out her hand for him to shake.

Silver starred at the hand hesitantly, as if he didn't know what to do with it. Begrudgingly, he slowly reached out for it...

Suddenly, something small and white smashed into the ground, causing the red haired trainer to instantly snap his arm back, turning his head quickly in the direction of whatever had crashed beside them.

Gold's Togekiss lay awkwardly in the ground, letting out little gasps of pain that were obviously just a part of some melodramatic act she was putting on. Her trainer, on the other hand, had landed quite heavily on the ground at the Pokemon's feet, not heavily enough to to do any actual physical damage, but enough to knock all the Pokeballs the younger trainer had placed on his belt off onto the earth.

Gold straightened up slightly, still looking remarkably pale.

"I really hate you sometimes, Togekiss." He groaned, rubbing his head.

The flying-type let out another fake little moan, before closing it eyes, "unconcious".

Gold rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay thanks for that."

Silver let out a grunt of irritation as he watched the act. Without a word nor indication, he pointedly turned his back to the two other Dexholders, stalking off towards the town.

The black haired trainer blinked, turning to Lyra. "What's up with him?"

The brown haired female gave him a glare, not exactly directed towards the boy himself, but more so towards the way he had trained his Pokemon, especially Togekiss. Silver finally seemed to be starting to warm up to her, and having every chance of any interaction destroyed by that stupid white creature was getting beyond frustrating.

"Not important," She said, perhaps a bit snappishly, also beginning to walk in the opposite direction. "Now come on, the less time we waste the better."

Still in utter shock that he had managed to earn two cold-shoulders in under a minute, Gold forced himself up off the ground, mind fuzzy as he followed.

Lyra sighed at this action, throwing him a look over her shoulder. "Are you serious Gold?"

"What?"

"Do you honestly plan on continuing on with the mission without your Pokemon?"

The youngest Dexholder stopped immediately, face turning a cherry red faster then a traffic light, eyes snapping open in both surprise and embarrassment. Hastily, he grabbed each and everyone of his Pokeballs, throwing them randomly into place. Retracting his "passed out" Togekiss and purposely ignoring her cries of protest, he finished the action off by tossing the ball into the third slot of his belt, clearly flustered by his mix up. Trying his best to regain his composure, he continued his way forwards, still blushing.

"R-right, lets just go on now..."

Lyra couldn't help but give a small smile, not even noticing she had just set her first step into her mission, not even resizing this could be the last mission she ever took part of.

Once the two, three, if you counted the already long passed Silver, were at a safe distance away, a figure slowly made its way out of the dark green bush beside, slowly raising an arm to its face.

"Master," The person said, voice confirming it was in fact female. "They've arrived."

"Excellent," the person that responded had a uniquely low voice, edged with a crackling tone. He let out a cold laugh, sending small shivers down the woman's spine. "All three, I presume?"

"Affirmative. Plans for attack?" She began to pick the leaves out of her messy, yet remarkably well styled, brown hair.

"Go for the older two first. Once that's done, the last one won't even be a bug beneath my shoe."

"Of course." She made her way slowly over to where the three had landed, eyes inspecting the ground. She bent down, fingers wrapping around a small object that lay on the ground, the reflection of the sun causing it to grab her attention. "And I think I know just where to start."

With a malicious little chuckle, she ended the call, a small click sounding out as she threw the rainbow-tinted feather carelessly into the ground, strolling casually off into the surronding forest.

* * *

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"Oh yes, I do know where the Peacha berries grow! Just outside the town deary, to the left." An elderly woman smiled kindly, her rosy cheeks sunken with age. "It's nice to see children taking interest in such activities."

Lyra groaned, sinking deeper into the chair the woman had ushered her into the moment she had answered the door. This was going nowhere! As much as the brown hair hated to admit it, she wanted to storm out right then and there, slamming the door behind her and never looking back. And Lyra PRIDED herself in her pacience! Sure, the woman was nice and all, but DEAR GOD someone get her a hearing aid!

'_Just like Gold,_' Lyra thought with a small groan, before speaking up. "No, I'm sorry, not "Peacha berry", "Team Rocket!" Seriously, how do you mix those up?

"What was that dearest?"

"TEAM ROCKET! You know, the evil organization said to have fallen a year ago? I came to ask you about TEAM ROCKET!"

"Cream pocket?" The woman fiddled with her ear slightly.

That was it. Lyra got up from her seat, trying her best to control her anger as she made her way toward the door.

"Thank you," She said, voice shaking lightly as she forced a smile. "But it seems you don't have the information I'm looking for." Without another word, she grabbed the knob, ready to fling the door open and make a break for it.

Suddenly, she something grabed firmly onto her other arm, squeezing it ever so slightly. Feeling her heart skip a beat, the girl quickly flipped around, eyes wide.

The woman stood right behind her, eyes wide with pure concern as she held onto Lyra's arm.

"H-how...?" Was all Lyra could say, casting a quick glance between the dark green love-seat the elderly lady had been sitting in just moments before and their current location. Her mind spun.

"Your wings dearest!" The woman rasped, grabbing onto the Dexholder's shoulder, causing her to flinch. "Protect them! They always go for the wings!" Her voice seemed to crack as she uttered the last words, and she let out a rough cough.

The brown haired girl froze, eyes unblinking.

Not giving Lyra a moment to reply, she let go, turning around and merely muttering random incantations to herself, as if nothing had ever happened.

The girl herself was frozen to the stop, features paling as she starred at the old lady, lips moving but unable to form words.

'_My... Wings?_'

* * *

Silver leaned near the door on the small house he had been assessed to, grumbling curses under his breath.

It was bad enough he had to go on a mission, with GOLD of all people, but now he had to bear through this? Never had Silver seen such an utter waste of time. Everyone, no matter who they asked, would always come up with the same bullshit answer "_oh, we haven't heard anything!_" or "_Team Rocket?_ _Weren't they disbanded years ago?_"

Silver couldn't believe people could be so... _Useless_.

If nobody knew shit about the potential resurrection of Team Rocket, why the hell had Oak even sent then on this God-damned mission in the first place? He said there were _rumours. _

These were not _rumours._

Even the thought of putting up with Team Rocket once again made Silver practically tremble with hidden fury. He was done with those pathetic excuses for human beings. _Done_.

The red haired trainer narrowed his eyes, hands slowly forming into fists.

"...Bastards..." He growled through clenched teeth. Silver looked down at his now outstretched palm, as if picturing the blood that would later stain it. "I let you fuckers off easy last time..." The amount if ecstasy that was coursing though him was almost disturbing. "But if you DARE show yourselves again..." He squeezed his hand together, grinning. "...I'll personally _murder_ you all."

A sudden noise brought his attention away from his whispered oath, the look of pure bloodlust fading from his eyes as he snapped his head up, still seething.

Lyra had just burst through the door of the house beside him, face a terrible shade of white as she sunk to the ground, shaking.

"That was just..." She began, breathless as if she had just ran a mile. "...Wrong."

Silver felt an odd sense of curiosity course through him. And he hated it. What the hell did it matter to him what had happened to her? If it wasn't anything new to report, which it didn't seem to be, he honestly shouldn't care one bit.

Yet... The look in her eyes... They told something. Silver took a step closer, not drawing the girl's attention, and looked as deeply into her gaze as he could manage from his angle. Confusion swarmed her light blue irises, mixed with the strong emotions of fear and... Denial? Worry?

'_No..._' Silver thought as he squinted closer. '._..Concern. Worry is a selfish emotion, only caring about yourself and your own wellbeing. While concern... Is for others._" Silver's expression fell to a netraul position. "._..How cheesy." _

Whether it was because she sensed his presnce or she was merely looking around, Lyra cast a glance up away from her feet and to her left, right where Silver was standing. The red haired trainer quickly shifted positions, using his sharp reflexes to try and cover the fact that he had just been starring at her, but it was too late. He had been caught.

"What exactly... Were you doing?" Lyra asked awkwardly, raising an eyebrow.

Silver looked off to the side, purposely avoiding her gaze.

"Not important..." Was his only response.

The girl starred at him for a couple more moments, clearly a little suspicious, before breaking away with a frown.

"Silver?"

"M'hm?" He responded absentmindedly.

"...Do you know what it means to protect 'our wings'?"

Silver shook his head, blinking several times. His lips pulled down into a puzzled frown. '_What, has she gone insane now too? Great. Her and Gold both.' _

The girl sighed, slowly standing up to his level, a distant look in her eyes. "I'll take that as a no." She decided, before shrugging. "Oh well. Not that important to me anyways."

'_Liar.'_

Lyra let out a yawn, and stretched a little, though kept Silver within eyesight the whole time. "Any information on the Team Rocket affairs?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay then. I didn't either."

"Alright."

The girl shifted uncomfortablely. "I suppose we just have to wait for-"

"-And stay out, you little ruffian!" A loud voice shouted, coming from the direction of a house to the right, the same on Gold had been assigned to. Silver rolled his eyes wistfully as the boy himself was thrown roughly onto the ground.

"Alright, alright!" The youngest Dexholder snapped, dusting himself off from his fall. "I don't wanna go in your stupid house anyways!" He snorted as the person slammed the door angrily, the noise echoing all throughout the street.

"Jeez," He laughed, walking away. "Old people these days." Gold paused, raising a hand to his chin. "Did that make sense?"

"No." Silver and Lyra said simultaneously, scaring the daylights out of their black haired companion.

"What-what the... Huh?!" He stuttered uselessly, staring at them in surprise. "When did you get there?!"

"Not too long ago," Lyra replied. "At least, I haven't. I don't know about Silver. But that's not what matters right now. Did they tell you anything worth noting?"

"Nope. They just kept ranting on about some crap about 'seeing shady figures near the burned tower, durr hurr hurr!' And when I tried to tell them that that wasn't at all what we were looking for, they just said..." He trained off, eyebrows knitting together. "What are the looks for?"

The was a moments silence as the two older trainers exchanged incredulous glances.

"Does it hurt to be that stupid?" Silver spoke up finally.

"Hey! What was that for, bastar-"

"Gold!" Lyra cut in forcefully, making sure he didn't finish the last word. "The Burned Tower! That must be where Team Rocket is!"

"..." Gold was quiet for a few seconds, before nodding. "Oh..."

"Idiot..." Silver muttered, earning a glare from the female trainer.

"Well, if that's the case, what are we waiting for?" Without a moments hesitation, Gold broke out into a sprint, destination set on the large, fire stained tower, a cocky grin set upon his features.

"Wait, Gold!" Lyra shouted, running after him in hot pursuit. "We need a moment to think this through! We can't just run in and expect everything to go smoothly! Are you even listening?!"

"..." Silver followed calmly, eyes set towards the ground, lost deep in thought.

Through the crack of her door, an old woman watched them leave, her gaze filled with a cold look of pure maliciousness.

"Peacha berries grow just outside of town, deary." She croaked in a mocking tone. "Didn't you ever learn they're the only natural cure for _poison_?"

**000000000000000000000000000**

**Thanks for reading! And if you could review, that would be very much appreciated! :D**

* * *

**Preview for the next chapter ('cause I feel like it): **

As the growing sense of darkness becomes apparent to the three young Dexholders, Silver must struggle to keep his sanity intact at the thought of once again coming face to face with the ones he fought so hard to defeat only a year before. Meanwhile, a small incident leaves Gold pondering his importance to the group, and if he's truly cut out for what lies ahead. "The blood of the dead Marowaks is a sign," They say, "A sign that nothing lies ahead but evil."

* * *

**~Galefire~**


	3. Chapter 3: Panic

**Whoop! New chapter, yo! **

**THANKS FOR REVIEWING AND FAVORITING AND FOLLOWING AND READING AND ALL THAT GOOD SHIT, PEOPLE! It means a lot to me! **

**Note: Keep in mind this story is in fact rated T, and it WILL have swearing, blood, dark themes and even later on, child abuse, insanity and gore. Nothing in here in bad enough for me to change the rating to M, but if there was a T+ I'd problably rate it that. **

**Disclaimer: Galefire owns nothing of Pokemon. Other then merchandise. But not the content. This story belongs to her though. **

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"This place looks worse then the last time I saw it." Lyra commented, starring up with wide eyes at the tall building before them, almost hesitant to approach it.

It was true. Burnt Tower, though it had always been in rough condition, seemed to be about ready to fall over as it loomed darkly above the three trainers, scorch marks somehow looking even blacker and the fire -stained build creaking at every gust of wind. What little remained on the roof was bleach white and stripped of all properties, the rest having caved into the building itself. Lyra played with the edge of her sleeve nervously, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Well..." She tried to look confident, taken aback by the silence of her two companions. "I can definitely see why Team Rocket would stow away here. Shady..."

From the corner of her eye, the girl could swear she saw Silver stiffen, just slightly, at the mention of the organization's name.

"...Bastards..." He whispered, an odd look casting itself across his face. "I'll kill them all..."

Lyra frowned, not sure if she had heard him correctly. "What was that?"

"H'mm?" Silver's expression returned to normal, his eyes holding a hint of confusion, as if he was not aware he had just spoken.

"Stop flirting you two!" Gold snapped suddenly, interrupting any possible response from the girl. "We've got stuff to be doing!"

Silver's head snapped around to face the boy, the way his right eye was twitching suggested he had heard something that pissed him off quite greatly. Before anyone had a moment to react, the red haired trainer had grabbed a firm hold of his younger compainion's throat, ultimately cutting off his supply of air. Narrowed silver orbs burned into wide gold ones, alive with rage and what could only be described as hatred.

"Stuff?!" Silver snapped, voice shaking a little. "This is not "stuff", or whatever bullshit way you chose to describe this!" His hold on the boy visibly tightened. "This is serious fucking business, you hear?! WE COULD ALL END UP DEAD! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT?!"

Gold struggled desperately, face turning a bright shade of red.

"S-Silver..." He just barely managed to cough.

"What are you doing?!" Lyra finally managed to yell. Running over to the action, she grabbed forcefully onto the older boy's arm, pulling with all her might to make him let go, to no avail. "Silver, stop!"

Whether he had not heard or chose not to listen, Silver's grip did not loosen, if anything, he continued to squeeze down harder, expression holding an unfamiliar look of blind panic.

"DO YOU TAKE THIS AS A GAME?!" Silver continued to shout, almost sounding on the verge of tears. "HOW ABOUT I BREAK YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE SPINE?! HOW FUN WILL YOUR STUPID FUCKING GAME BE THEN?!"

"SILVER!" Lyra screamed at the top of her lungs, praying she would be loud enough to peice through his own cries.

The red haired Dexholder seemed to break out of a trace. The dead look to his eyes seemed to fade as he backed up, looking what could almost be described as utterly terrified. Lyra saw his gaze shift down to his hands, moving each finger rhythmically as if to make sure they were really there. Not once did he look up at his companions.

The three sat in silence for a moment, disturbed only by Gold's heaving breaths as he fought to get lost air back into his lungs. Lyra had to wait, wait before she could even finish comprehending what had just happened.

"Silver..." She whispered in a chocked voice. He did not break his focus. Swallowing, she went on. "...Why?"

Silver didn't answer.

The girl could feel a pressure rising in her chest. "Why would you do that?" She repeated, now managing to find her train of thought. "He said one sentence, one scentence, and you go insane! He wasn't even trying to piss you off! For once..." Gold gave her a look at that last comment.

The red haired trainer only shook his head slowly, trying his very best to look calm, before quickly turning around and walking in a fast yet controlled pace, not even daring to look back.

Gold pulled himself off the ground with a snort, dusting himself off. "Way to overreact, dick."

Although Lyra wasn't particularly fond of the course language he had decided to use, the brown haired girl found herself actually siding with Gold on this case. Silver HAD overrreacted, especially in regards of his character and the amount if time he had spent with the black haired boy. He knew how to keep his cool when Gold was being... Well, Gold.

Lyra forced a neutral face and pretended to shrug it off, hoping she looked believable. "He's probably just stressed. Hearing about Team Rocket's potential resurrection must be wearing him down a little."

Yes. Her mind nodded. That made sense.

"Yeah, okay sure." Gold didn't seem to agree. "Let's just get going already. I don't want to see what happens when he gets "stressed" when the presence of a large rock."

Oh sweet Acrceus Lyra prayed he was joking.

Just as the boy spun around to head to their designated area, Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder, mentally sighing. She didn't want to have to do this. It felt like she was betraying Professor Oak, which was one of the last things she wanted to do.

Yet she felt she had to. "Uh, Gold, I was thinking..." The girl but her lip at his confused expression.

"Yeah?"

"I... I need you to stay behind. Just for now!" She added quickly.

Gold starred at her for a long time, only deepening her displeasure. His dark golden eyes looked utterly taken aback, hurt even.

"...Why?!" Lyra winced at the tone in his voice.

"Because, when me and Silver go inside the tower, if it were to turn out to be a trap, we'll need someone to call for help so that happen." At least, that was half the story.

"But why can't Silver stay back?!" Gold hissed, expression betraying the massive blow his self-confidence had just taken. "Oh wait, is because 'ooh! He's SUCH a good trainer! Nah nah nah, I can't fight my way out if a paper bag! Nah nah nah!'" He spat each word out bitterly, like they were nothing more then a bad taste in his mouth.

Lyra flinched. "No! It's not like that! In fact, I need you to do something else," she leaned in slowly, voice lowering to a whisper. "Something I can't trust Silver with..."

This seemed to excite the youngest Dexholder quite greatly. "What is it?!"

'Probably should have though of that first...' The girl thought with a wince.

"Well you see, uh, I umm..." She looked around desperately, trying to bring up something, anything, that could get her out of this predicament. Lyra winced, noticing his gaze getting more suspicious. Gold wasn't an idiot, this was something she knew well. He wasn't the smartest person on earth, far from it actually, and he did have a tendency to ignore all commen sense at times, but he most definitely wasn't STUPID.

Lyra quickly perked up, the stray seeds of an idea planting themselves into her head.

"Yes! Of course!" She forced a laugh, feeling sweat beading on her forehead as the younger trainer's eyes narrowed further. This was just PAINFUL. "I need you to watch my Nidoking!"

Gold raised an eyebrow as she started shuffling through her bag. "...Why?"

"Because he's... Hurt!" Lyra prayed her smile looked natural.

"Then heal him."

'Crap. He knows about logic.'

"I... I um, can't."

The black haired boy rolled his eyes, looking utterly exasperated. "And might I ask what the magical reasoning for that is?"

Lyra finally found the Pokeball she was looking for. "Oh it's not magical. Quite the contrary, actually. It's science." Without even waiting for a response, she quickly sent out the large, purple dinosaur-like Pokemon, covering her ears as it let out it's trademark roar. "You see, in a battle against a psychic trainer a few days ago, he injured his ankle by tripping over a pot-hole." The girl made a small gesture towards the Nidoking's lower leg. "It was bent up pretty badly out of shape, and although potions and Pokemon centres can heal most of the damage, the nerves are still very sensitive, and he needs to have someone look after him to make sure it doesn't get infected."

Lyra knew how bad of an excuse this was, it didn't even make any physical sense, but it was all she had. She couldn't shrug off the gut feeling that something would go terribly wrong inside the burnt tower, and the last thing she wanted was the young trainer in the midst of all that.

"His ankle doesn't look swollen." Gold pointed out, snapping her back to reality.

"Not every injury swells, Gold."

"Yes, but-" The boy cut himself off, shaking his head. "You know what? Fine! I don't even care anymore! You want to go do the actual mission with your precious little Silver, go right ahead." Clearly enraged, he hastily grabbed the Pokeball that was sitting on the third slot of his belt, tossing it to her begrudgingly. "Just take my Bellossom. I'll just sit here. Being useless. Like always."

Lyra cast him a concern look. "Gold..."

"Just go away!" He snapped, turning his back to her.

The girl sighed wistfully, wishing that had gone better. The last thing she needed was one of her comrades to be holding a grudge.

"Alright, but if anything goes wrong out here, use Togekiss to fly to the lab immediately. It's not because I don't think you can handle it," she added, seeing his fist clench into a ball, "but that way you'll be able to find help for me and Silver. If someone is targeting you, they'll be targeting us too. We're a team Gold, remember that."

Without another word, Lyra flipped around, stalking off towards her destination, feeling her heart sink with every step, the cold image of two golden eyes, sharp and alight with raging fire burned into the back of her mind.

**000000000000000000000000000**

Lyra winced at a loud creaking noise once again split the silence of the Burned tower, resonating throughout the whole area. And she had thought the outside looked terrible! It was clear that by the combined efforts of it's old injuries, and the passing years, that the Burnt Tower was slowly falling appart, which was very evident by it's current state.

The entire interior of the building was a crumbling mess, the darkened walls caving in ever so slightly with a fair amount of the dark wood that had made them up missing. The roof was more or less the same, but had an a collection irritating leaks somewhere in the room, the area if which was hidden by the dark surronding shadows of the building. Lyra cast a nervous glance down towards the hole in the centre of the floor, disturbingly aware of how much more immense it had grown since the last time she saw it.

Silver walked silently beside her, head down. Occasionally, he would look up, eyes darting around the room, as if he was expecting someone to jump out and murder them both, before returning to his previous state.

Lyra frowned deeper, casting the red haired trainer a concerned look. His behaviour lately was getting stranger and stranger as time passed by. Not only had he strangled Gold just mintues before, but after Lyra had spent so much time talking to said boy afterwards, Silver didn't made a snide remark about how slow she was, or how having the other two on the mission was such a huge waste of time. He hadn't even given her a side look of silent annoyance like he usually would, which was so un-Silver-like it HURT.

The panicked expression in Silver's gaze that she saw now wasn't helping either.

"Silver?" She spoke up tentatively, not completely sure just how much trust she should bestow upon her other companion.

Silver froze in the spot. He didn't answer verbally, but his body language was enought to send Lyra the message that she should continue.

The girl swallowed, before continuing. "Are... Are you okay?"

The question hung in the air for a moment, unanswered.

Silver finally lifted his head, half his face shaded over by the darkness of the surronding area. A hint of shiny grey was visible in the shadows, but no more.

"What do you mean by okay?" His voice was icily calm.

"I mean... Um..." The girl took a second to consider her answer. "Silver... Are you scared?" An odd pang hit her heart as she uttered the last question.

Dead. Silence.

The look that he gave her was almost indescribable. His gaze was hollow, devoid of any life or persuading emotions, lacking of any luster.

He looked... Dead.

Finally, Silver responded."No."

That simple statement had enough force behind it to cause Lyra to take a step back, in shock that someone looking so empty could bring such power into their voice. A loud, echoing "crack!" emitted through the air as her foot hit a charred plank, one that was just barely jutting out over the large, gaping hole. Taken by surprise, the brown haired girl lost her balance, the wood breaking under the pressure. Before she could react, Lyra fell backwards, down into the deep pit below.

A strangled scream found its way out of her throat. Lyra felt a jolt of panic flash through her, arms reaching out desperately for something to grab ahold of, but the attempt proved fruitless, her hand missing the edge by a hair's breadth. However, before she could plummet further into the inky darkness of the large hole, something gripped firmly onto her wrist, stopping her descent entirely.

Lyra hissed in pain as pain flashed through her shoulder. Her entire form hung, pale and shaking, directly in between life and certain death. Her breath hitched in her chest, heart beating furiously.

Finally, after giving her mind a moment to comprehend what had just occurred, the girl found the courage to look up, to find out what had saved her.

Silver.

The red haired teen starred down upon her, silver eyes looking almost uninterested in what had just happened. His right hand gripped tightly upon her arm.

"That was stupid." He muttered in a bored tone.

"Tell me about it!" Lyra laughed nervously, forcing herself not to look down.

Silver sighed, as if the whole situation was just a massive bother to him, and started to pull the girl up. His arms shook ever so slightly, wether this was from the effort or just the shock kicking in, Lyra didn't know. At the moment, all she really cared about is that she wanted to feel solid ground beneath her feet.

"I have a sudden understanding for Gold's fear of hights..." Lyra said to nobody in paticular, at last level enough to grab onto the edge of the floor. The loose splinters bit into her hands as she did so, causing her to bite her lip from the light sting.

Silver rolled his eyes in response, still holding onto her arm.

"Uh, Silver?" Lyra pulled herself up, dusting herself off with her one free hand. "You can let go now."

However, despite what she had just told him, the red haired trainer still held on, grip only tightening. His eyes widened, starring into nothing.

"Okay, okay!" Lyra attempted to pull away. "I get it! I won't fall again! You're hilarious!"

Silver's mouth moved, as if forming words, but made no sound. His nails digged deeply into her skin, not deep enough to break into the flesh, but enough to cause her to start tugging away desperately.

"Let go!" She cried, wincing as he didn't react.

Just as the girl had raised her arm, fully prepared to slap him across the face, the spell was broken. Silver shook his head, his eyes showing an odd sense of rage.

Snapping his arm away from her, he cast a glance around the room. "Do you hear that?!"

Lyra paused. Around her, the air was silent, appart from the constant dripping of the supposed leak. Nothing out of the ordinary, so what was he talking about? Snapping back to reality, she answered, "What?! Silver, what the heck is up with you?! You were totally out of it just a minute ago!"

Silver starred at her for a long moment, as if he was making sure she was serious, before breaking out into a run, sprinting deeper into the tower.

"Silver!" Lyra was taken aback for a second. This wasn't like him! Sure, being the silent type, he was far from talkative, but at least he often gave explanations for what he was doing! Not wanting to lose sight of him, Lyra started to chase after the red haired boy, gritting her teeth. "Could you please tell me what's going on?!"

"Shh." Was his only response.

"Did you just-"

"Shh!"

Picking up the pace, Lyra ran alongside Silver, glaring at him. Her fists curled into balls as she forced down her enraged words.

Sometimes he really got on her nerves.

Meanwhile, the leaking sound was getting louder, beginning to sound like many drips instead of just one. Slowly, Lyra got the faintest hint if an idea for what he was doing.

Finally, as the noise reached its climax, signifying that the two trainers were closing in on the source, Silver stopped dead in his tracks, almost cause the fuming girl to crash into him.

Lyra reeled back for a moment, before regaining both her composure and her anger.

"Silver, I demand you tell me what's going on!" She hissed, reaching the end of her wits. It was hard to believe she was having to be so short with _Silver_!

Finally, the male teenager answered her, albeit quite vaguely.

"Look." He instructed in a chilling monotone, pointing to the area before them.

Lyra peered forward, having to squint to see what he was indicating. As she did so, a terrible, sour scent hit her nose, mixed with a slight metallic tang. The putrid scent caught in her throat at that very moment, causing her to gag, tears welling up in her eyes. It was then that she saw what could only be described as one of the worst, most horrifying things she had seen in her life. The girl could only stare, mortified, frozen in the spot.

Laying right in front of her, was a collection of dozens, possibly hundreds, of mutilated Marowak corpses, their blacked flesh rotting right off the bones. Most were thrown lazily into a mesh of splayed limbs onto the cold floor, but some were tied by their own decomposing intestines, onto the broken ceiling boards. Thick blood dripped from the creatures' torn stomachs. The organs had been slashed beyond repair, to the point that some had been reduced to a foul-smelling mush, strewn across the bloodied ground.

Lyra clapped a hand over her mouth, heart skipping a beat. Any and all words were at a loss to her. Beside her, Silver tensed.

"They're here." He whispered.

And at that very moment, the girl felt a hand squeeze her shoulder, warm breath running down her back.

"So good of you to join us children," a voice chided joyously. "What do you think of our experiments?"

Dead silence hit the room, filled only by the soft squelching of rotting organs as the dead Marowaks suddenly all turned to face the two teens.

Every single one of them was crying.

**000000000000000000000000000**

**Ugh... I meant to have this out sooner, but then vacation, sickness and writers block happened. **

**So yeah, I really hope you enjoy this chapter, because it was actually a lot of fun to write. **

**Next chapter: SHIT. GOES. DOWN. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**~*Galefire*~**


	4. Chapter 4: Comprehend

**Well. Here it is. Enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. **

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"Stupid mission... Stupid Lyra... Stupid Silver... Stupid EVERYTHING!" Gold snapped, his cries attracting the attention of a certain purple Pokemon.

The boy and Lyra's Nidoking were currently seated at the edge of town, both equally annoyed at being left out and bored out of their minds. They had attempted to make a game of catch by using a rock, but their plans had been foiled once the dinosaur-like creature whipped the rock at a nearby window, smashing it. This little incident not only cost Gold a couple thousand Pokedollars, but had also forced them to relocate, now farther from the Burnt Tower then the boy would have preferred.

And thus, the two of them sat, crosslegged, not too distant from the Ecruteak residential gym.

"Seriously, do they just have NO faith in me?!" Gold hissed, pulling angrily at the grass around his legs. "Other than bastard of course, his opinion's not important, but LYRA?! I thought she trusted me!" Growling, he punched at the ground a few times for good measure.

The Nidoking beside him rolled his eyes, placing a paw on his chin. Here he goes again...

"Oh, hey Gold!" The boy shifted his voice into a high-pitched falsetto, apparently mimicking his female companion. "You know that thing I said a few months ago about strength knowing no age? Well, apparently that applies to everyone but you! Whoopsies!"

The lavender Pokemon let out an irritated grunt.

"So, you now have to stay behind because I want to go face-fuck with Silver! Naah!" Gold spat, ending his terrible imitation. "Well, great. Just. Freaking. Peachy. They problably get to do something cool... Like fight zombies or something..."

Nidoking made another noise.

"I do NOT play too many video games!"

The Pokemon gave him a look.

"I was just kidding... Jeez..." Gold grumbled, looking down. "Why do I have to be the one stuck outside with a stupid Nidoking?!"

At that, Nidoking let out a sad roar, quickly flipping his back to the trainer, nearly knocking Gold out as his tail smacked him on the back of the head. The raven haired boy snapped his head up, looking pissed for a moment, before calming down entirely.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" He sighed, getting up off the ground. Striding over to the lavender coloured Pokemon, he gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "You're not stupid, are you? Yeah. It's Lyra who's stupid for not letting us come!"

Nidoking gave a little nod, brightening a bit. Smiling, Gold started to pet him on the head.

"You're just a big softie, aren't you?" Nidoking made a joyous clicking sound. "Hah! I remember when Lyra first got you! Just a cute little Nidoran male! She looked for hours trying to find a moonstone when you first evolved!" Gold smirked at the memory, giving the Pokemon a scratch behind his ear, causing him to roar in delight. "She was so pissed when she found out I had one the entire time! Took her weeks to forgive me!"

Nidoking turned around, giving him a long lick across the face, practically purring. The young trainer recoiled, before breaking out laughing.

"Dude!" He chuckled, wiping the slobber off his face the his sleeve. "You should totally do that to Lyra when she gets back! She'll be all 'EEEEE! HOW GUH-ROSS!" Gold put his hands on his face in a form of mock disgust.

The Nidoking responded with a low sounding noise, almost resembling a chuckle.

"Lyra shall rue the day she ever left us behind!" Gold declared, striking a random pose.

Suddenly, the young boy became aware of a presence behind him. He froze for a second, not exactly sure wether or not he wanted to see who was there. Slowly, he turned around, dragging his left foot as he did so, and immediately wished he hadn't.

Standing there, dressed in his usual black long-sleeved shirt and ripped purple scarf, was the Ecruteak gym leader himself, Morty. A small smile played itself across his lips at Gold's stunned expression.

"Uh..." Gold exchanged an awkward glance with Lyra's Nidoking. "I can explain..."

"There's no need," Mortly laughed in a friendly matter. "I saw it all."

"What, was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I see you haven't changed a bit since our last meeting. In regards to both your personality and your... Height." The gym leader cast him a look from head to toe.

Gold huffed angrily. He just HAD to bring that up, didn't he?

There was no way around it. Gold was short. Almost a head shorter then most people his age. At first, his height hadn't bothered him in the slightest, it was just a number, really. But as soon as people had started constantly mistaking him for a seven year old, even the mention of it got on his nerves.

He knew Morty wasn't intentionally trying to be mean, as he was probably just trying to bring something up to make the situation less... Awkward. But seriously! That?!

"I'll have you know that I have grown a whole 0.2 inches since our last meeting!" Gold remarked, closing his eyes proudly, before adding quietly. "Give or take a few..."

Morty chuckled softly. "It makes all the difference."

"I'm right on the brink of my growth spurt, I swear!"

"I believe you said that last time, if I'm not mistaken."

Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Gold gave up.

"What are you even here for, anyways?!" He snapped, a bit more harshly then he meant to sound.

"There's no need to be so irate, Gold." Morty responded calmly. "I was merely coming to inquire your presence here, not that it's a problem, naturally, but something made me doubt it was for the rematch you promised me."

"Oh that." Gold muttered casually. "Sorry, no. Me, Lyra, and Assface mc. Prissy-pants-"

"Silver?" Morty raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that bastard. Anyways, we all came down here to investigate the possible reserection of Team Rocket. The others are inside the Burnt Tower right now, after I found out that we should go there, and Lyra forced me to stay outside a watch her Nidoking. I mean, can you believe that-"

"Wait," the gym leader cut in, eyes wide. "Team Rocket's reserection?"

"Yeah?" Gold straightened up. "Do you know anything about it?"

"I cannot say that I'm too famier with the subject, but I have heard some of the people here discussing it..."

"Yes? What did they say?"

"Not much, unfortunately. Just the occasional mention. I'm not quite sure where the rumor even begun to be honest." Morty looked momentarily disappointed. "You are quite eager for information, I see."

Gold sighed. "I don't think Lyra trusts me with this mission, and I kinda wanted to at least TRY and prove her wrong. But... There's not much to prove when I'm stuck out here..." He kicked at the ground, expression downcast.

The gym leader nodded slowly. "I apologize for failing to assist you in such intentions." Falling silent for a moment, Morty threw a glance over his shoulder, checking to see if anyone was listening in, before leaning towards Gold. "So, have they really returned?" He whispered.

Gold shrugged softly, still looking down. "Can't say. We only got here 'bout an hour ago."

Suddenly, a hint if movement played itself across the edge of his vision. Blinking in confusion, the boy raised his head, golden eyes skirting the edge of town in the direction he had seen it. It took a moment of searching, but at last, he set his eyes on what he had seen.

A human figure.

Two figures, actually. Both tall enought to be adults, and both definetly female. The two moved slowly, almost cautiously towards the back of the Burnt tower, their heads low. Gold leaned forward a bit, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to get a better view.

'What the hell?' He thought, blinking curiously.

"...Gold?" Morty's voice broke through his thoughts. Straightening up, the boy shook his head, clearing his mind.

"Uh, sorry Morty, but I'm gonna have to go. I think I heard Lyra call me just now. We'll have to arrange that rematch later, 'kay?"

The gym leader nodded. "Of course. And Gold?" He called as the boy start to make his way towards the tower, having retracted the Nidoking.

Gold flipped around. "Yeah?"

"Best of luck." Morty said in a serious tone, his gaze hard. "To you, and your friends."

The boy snorted, turning around. "Thanks Morty, but Silver isn't my friend."

The gym leader shook his head. "He's only what you make him out to be, Gold."

Gold looked thoughtful for a moment, before giving him a small no, expression betraying the fact that Morty's words hadn't impacted him in the slightest, before spinning around by his heels and sprinting off.

Morty watched him go, smiling ever so slightly.

"Children..." He chuckled.

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The woman crouched, green eyes set downcast as she shuffled hastily through the contents of her bag. Hidden by the shadows casted by the large tower erected before her, not to mention the clotch entirely hiding the lower half of her face, there was no need for such speed to be applied to the task. However, she felt that with all that was going on, there was no room for any mishaps.

Her expression brightened as she gelt her gloved hand wrap around a spherical object. Gracefully and without strain, she pulled it out of her bag, smile growing wider by the second.

"Do you have it, Ameera?" A voice spoke up slowly from beside her.

Ameera flipped around to meet eyes with her partner, another female, dressed in the same black attire who looked to be around the same age. Ameera gave her a little wink, before lifting the object in front of her.

It was a Pokeball. By the untrained eye, it was impossible to tell any difference between it and any other run of the muck capture device. But, when put under close inspection, small patters could be seen, etched in just by the surrounding black ring. The second woman's expression brightened, and she reached out for it, only to have Ameera slap her hand away.

"Cecelia!" She snapped, narrowing her eyes. "You have your own, do you not?! This part of the plan requires our full attention, and there is no room for error." Straightening up, Ameera went on, this time in a tone that reflected her inner sense of surperiority. "Naturally, these Pokeballs don't have a confirmed catch rate, which means we can't risk using them when they are at full health."

Cecelia nodded, eyes wide.

"So, Terra is in there weakening them for us, when they reach there lowest point, we strike. You go for the girl's Megani-" she was cut off by her partner slamming her hands over her clothed mouth. Before Ameera could even attempt to break free of her grasp, Cecelia raised a finger to her mouth, using another to jab to the right.

Ameera's eyes traveled slowly to where her companion was pointing. From one side of the Burnt Tower, the sound of footsteps could be heard, though was barely audible. By the steadily increasing noise, however, the two woman could deduct the obvious fact that someone was approaching.

Ameera felt her heart pound against her chest. Had they been found out already? Icy claws of dread stabbed at her heart, and she compensated running away.

"Hello?" A soft, childish voice rang out from behind the building, sounding lost. Before either of the woman could even begin to react, the head of a small, raven haired boy poked out from behind the tower, eyes shining with innocence.

Ameera felt like slapping herself. Really? She got so worked up over a child? Smirking, she straightened up, trying to regain metal balance.

"What do you want, kid?!" She snapped, narrowing her eyes. Beside her, Cecelia gave her a warning nudge.

To the woman's surprise, the young male didn't even flinch. He didn't even show any sign of caution towards her hostility. Instead, he stepped out from behind the burnt structure, seemingly unaware of any tension.

Ameera couldn't help but feel a pricking sensation that she should know this kid. He LOOKED familier: red jacket, black hair, golden stripped hat, but yet she couldn't quite place it. Biting her lip, Ameera pushed herself off the ground.

"Well?!" She hissed when he didn't answer, placing her two hands on her hips and giving him her best scowl.

The boy blinked. "Um... Well, I saw you two behind the building, and I couldn't help but wonder what you were doing there." He seemed to be choosing each word carefully. "You see, tourists don't generally go to the Burnt Tower anymore. It's suspected to start collapsing any day now."

Ameera rolled her eyes. "That's great kid but I really don't-"

"Thank you for informing us of such," the two turned to see that Cecelia had too stood up. The green eyed girl gave him a sweet smile. "We'll certainly keep that in mind. But," she took a step closer, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "The grown ups have some very important business to attend to, and we can't have any distractions, now can we?"

"Business?" He cocked his head curiously. "What kind of business? There's not much you can do behind the tower. Unless," his mouth curved into a frown. "You were looking for a way into the back of the tower."

Cecelia flattered a bit at this. "Uh..."

Ameera's mind raced. They weren't about to be found out by a kid, were they? Shaking her head, the woman spoke up.

"Quite brash for your age, aren't you?" She crossed her arms. "Say, where might your parents be?"

"Busy." Was his answer, short and simple.

"Oh really?" Ameera leaned in, lowering her gaze. "And do you honestly expect us to believe that your mommy and daddy let their little seven year old run around on his own?" Ameera wasn't sure where she made this observation. He certainly LOOKED seven, not to mention the way he had acted so far. But, guessing by the way his expression darkened at the mere mention of the number, she was off by a long shot.

The boy opened his mouth to say something, problably a sharp protest against her assumption, but was cut off when something seemed to catch his eye. Snapping his head down, he caught sight of the Pokeball like object that Ameera had dropped upon his arrival.

"What's this?" He asked suspiciously, bending down to pick it up. Ameera slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch that!" She snapped, snatching the ball up protectively. Raising it out of his reach, she took a step back, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Why?" The boy's tone was becoming more accusing by the second. "It's just a Pokeball." Something in his voice hinted he knew more than he was letting on.

Cecelia opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Ameera's angry retort.

"It's not "just a Pokeball!" Her voice rose to a snarl. "It just so happens to be a device used to-"

"Ameera!" Cecelia warned.

Ameera froze mid-scentence, suddenly aware of what she was just about to do. Shaking her head, the woman returned her look to the kid.

"A device used to catch 'special' Pokemon." She finished sternly. She saw something flash in the depths of the boy's golden eyes.

Wait...

Golden eyes...

Golden...

Gold!

"Cecelia!" Ameera cried. Cecelia turned to look at her in surprise, just in time to narrowly avoid a beam of light that was aimed for her head. Cecelia jumped in surprise as dust flew up in clouds were the attack had hit.

"What the hell?!" The green eyes woman cried, backing up towards her partner.

"Cecelia, do you know who that is?!" Ameera hissed into her ear, grabbing her by the arm. When Cecelia didn't answer, she continued. "That's Gold! The third Johto trainer and-"

"Espeon, psychic!" The newly discovered Gold called out, snapping his fingers with a swiping motion.

Before either of the woman could react, the ground in front if them was unearthed in almost a perfectly straight line, just centimetres away from their feet. Another blast of psychic energy shot out between the two, which they both just managed to dodge, Ameera smashing her ankle across a misplaced rock as she did so.

Ameera rolled away from the rising clouds that the attacks had created, clutching her ankle in pain. She needed to get in the game, start reacting faster. The woman winced as blood started to seep out, not to thickly, between her fingers. That was too close.

Ameera straightened up, face twisted with both rage and determination. There was no way she would let this pathetic child beat her.

"Arcanine, go!" She shouted, snatching one of the four Pokeballs from around her waist and thrusting it into the air. A bright beam of light shot out swiftly, developing into a large orange-coloured beast. Standing over six feet tall, with a wild look in its deep emerald eyes, it was not something you wanted to mess with.

"Go, Sunflora!" She heard Cecelia call out from beside her. With another flash, a sunflower-like creature appeared beside her Arcanine. Like an object of contrast, Sunflora didn't look nearly as threatening beside the towering dog, but the capabilities Aneera knew it had put a smile on her face.

The opposing Espeon flickered into view. His back was arched, eyes narrowed and teeth grinding together. The small red crystal situated on the centre of his forehead glowed vigorously.

The young trainer stood behind his snarling Pokemon, his golden eyes glinted in what could be amusement. A thin smirk was set upon his features.

"I don't see what you find so funny." Ameera snorted, rolling her eyes. "You're outnumbered, kid. We've got two Pokemon out, you've got one. We've got eight Pokemon, you've got six. There's two of us, and only one of you." A toxically cruel tone slipped its way into her voice. "I suggest you surrender before we're forced to hurt you."

"I think you're forgetting something." Gold spoke up. "That it was I who took down your organization all those years ago. Espeon, Psybeam!" Cutting himself off, the boy thrust his hand forward, signalling his Pokemon.

"Arcanine, flamethrower!" Ameera yelled immidiatly. He knew. He knew that they were Team Rocket, and he might even know what they were planning. But she couldn't let that bother her now. She had to take him out as soon as possible.

Espeon let out a little growl, his eyes lighting up as yet another ray of light shot out from his crystal. Arcanine, however, reacted quickly, letting out a column of flames just moments after. The fire shot through the attack, rushing at top speeds towards the cat. Letting out a surprised yowl, the cat leaped into the air, a blast of flame erupting from beneath him.

Cecelia sprung into action. "Razor leaf!" She commanded swiftly, her Pokemon obeying instantly to the command.

Espeon, who had still been recovering from the previous attack, only had a split second to look up as the attack raced toward him. The cat-like creature made an attempt to jump backwards out of the move's range, but reacted too lately, letting out a yowl of pain as the leaves cut into his pelt.

Ameera smiled wider. Just as she had planned.

"Let's finish this!" She sneered, "Arcanine, flame charge!"

Arcanine let out a roar in responce. Flames rose up at it's feet, swirling around it at a swift pace, before engulfing it entirely. Releasing another ear-splitting cry, the large Pokemon broke out into a sprint, charging recklessly towards the Espeon.

Espeon straightened himself up. His back legs were planted firmly into the ground behind him, eyes narrowed, forcing himself to focus. In a split second, the large dog was upon him.

"Espeon, now!" His trainer yelled above the roar of the flames.

Espeon responded instantly, dropping the ground and ducking beneath the large dog. Flames seared at his bloodied pelt, causing his eyes to water. Arcanine slammed his paw into the ground, stopping the procedure in it's confusion. At that very moment, Espeon attacked.

A strong physic attack blasted out from his crystal, nailing the fire type's underbelly. Arcanine let out a strangled cry as it was flung weakly trough the air like a rag doll. What Espeon had not antipicaped, however, was for one of the Brady's claws to hook his tail, pulling him into the air along with it.

"Shit!" Ameera cursed, watching her loyal companion fly into the rock wall that covered the back if the city. Gold's expression mirrored her own: looking both frustrated but oddly collected.

Both Pokemon slid weakly to the ground, stained with dust and fur matted with blood. However, while Arcanine remained in a collapsed heap, chest heaving desperately, the Espeon was struggling to retain his stance, teeth grinding in evidential agony.

"Nice fighting with you, sweetie!" Cecelia cooed darkly, snapping her fingers. "Sunflora, end this with Giga dr-"

"Ice punch, now!" The boy cut in harshly.

Cecelia's green eyes widened, looking taken aback. "What the-?!" Espeon couldn't learn ice punch! It didn't even have ARMS.

Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, something slammed heavily into the flower-like Pokemon, sending it spiralling backwards. Bits of ice clung heavily to it's leaves, petals, and body. Shuddering deeply, it attempted to straighten itself up, only to be hit again, a flash of brown and green passing by it as such happened.

Cecelia's mouth gaped open as her Pokemon hit the ground with a heavy thud, almost entirely frozen over. Standing before the fainted Subflora was a tall, tree-like Pokemon with two beady black eyes and a goofy grin plastered onto his face. By the way the trainer was grinning, it obviously belonged to Gold, but when had he sent it out?

Ameera rose up from her place by her Arcanine's side, the immense beast now retracted back into it's Pokeball. A was scowl set firmly upon her face.

"You think this is over, brat?" She hissed through clentched teeth. Reaching down for her next Pokemon, she added. "I've still got plenty of tricks up my sl-"

"Low kick!" He commanded instantly. Ameera felt her hand be pushed sharply away by a forceful kick from the Sudowoodo, which was much closer to her the age realized. As she let out a yelp, flinching backwards, the rock-type Pokemon's foot smashed against the Pokeballs connected to her belt, knocking them free of their slots and sending them rolling onto the ground. From beside her, Cecelia let out a shriek, the Pokeballs at her waist too being dislodged from their sockets, but instead by a physic force. Espeon walked up to the cowering Cecelia, his lip curled up in a fierce growl.

"You were saying?" Gold spat, taking a step closer to his now unarmed foes.

Ameera looked away, biting her lip in frustration. Taken down by a kid? A with only two Pokemon none the less!

"Bastard..." She whispered under her breath.

The young trainer narrowed his eyes further, raising his arm. As he did so, both Pokemon took a step closer to each woman.

"Call me all the names you want," his voice was icily calm, "it's not going to help you. Now..." Walking up to Ameera, he stood on the tips of his feet, making a sad attempt to meet her eye to eye. "I want you to tell me EXACTLY what you were doing back here, and EXACTLY what your plans are."

"Oh yeah?" Ameera laughed shakily, ignoring the panicked looks Cecelia was giving her. And what if we don't?"

"Are you testing me?" His gaze didn't waver.

"Ameera..." Cecelia warned.

The woman smirked. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, brat." Slowly, a hand slid into her pocket, going unnoticed by the boy.

"I could do anything I wanted to you two, and you can do NOTHING to stop me!" Sudowoodo stalked closer to Ameera with each rise in it's trainer's voice.

"Really? Nothing?" Ameera gave him a poisonous smile. "How about this?"

Before Gold could even make a move, her hand shot out of her jacket, a small, black, remote-like device clutched between her fingers. Just as he cast a quick glance down, she hit a large green button situated near the top of the object.

"What about that?" She giggled.

Gold swiftly backed up, eyes wide with horror. "What the hell did you-?!"

And then he felt it. A sudden shift of earth beneath a his feet. Followed by another one. And another one. Until the entire ground was trembling madly, letting out a deafening roar.

Gold felt stiff with horror, stumbling madly as he tired to keep his balance. For a moment, all words were lost upon him. The only thought running through his mind was the very scream of a panicking civilian.

"EARTHQUAKE!"

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**That chapter wasn't as long as I wanted it to be. **

**Unfortunately, I have once again came down with a bad case of writers block, and wanted to get this chapter done as a way of inspiring me again. So, we'll have to wait until the next chapter for shit to go down. **

**Plus long chapters are really boring for me to write, and I REALLY don't want to be forcing myself through these chapters. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading! I'd really appreciate some feedback! **

**~*Galefire*~**


	5. Chapter 5: Risk

**I made it to chapter five? OoO **

**Disclaimer: Pokemon is not mine. **

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Lyra wasn't prepared for the first strike.

The moment the torn creature jumped at her, teeth shining through the darkness and ripped organs leaving a bloodied trail behind it, her heart stopped. Every muscle in her body froze. She was paralyzed.

A sudden flash of light shone just in front of her, just as the Marowak was closing in, nearly blinding the girl. Before her eyes, a large, blue, reptilian creature rose before her, letting out a deafening roar. The Marowak, already having lunged at the female trainer, was unable to pull itself back in time. A well-aimed slash of Feralgatr's claws sent its organs spiraling towards a wall, where they splattered into bursts of thick black blood.

"Lyra," she flinched when she heard Silver speak up from beside her. His voice was dangerously calm. "We don't have time to hesitate. Send out your team. All of them."

Tentatively, Lyra nodded, trying not to cry out in terror as yet another attacking Marowak was splattered mercilessly against the wall, this time by Silver's respected Weavile.

Feeling as if her throat was caving in on itself, the girl reached into her bag. Luckily for her, she always kept her Pokeballs at the very top of her bag, in case of emergencies. Pulling five orbs out her bag, she hastily threw them into the air.

Meganium, Umbreon, Ditto, Suicune, and Ho-Oh, her entire team minus Nidoking all appeared in a series of lights. Each member landed heavily onto the ground, standing their ground even against the horrifying appearances of their foes. As if taking that as a challenge, the Marowaks all sprang into action.

"Meganium, Petal dance!" Lyra commanded. The large dinosaur-like Pokemon obeyed immediately, sending out an array of petals that sent several of the mutilated creatures flying backwards, disappearing in the immense crowd behind them. "Umbreon, faint attack! Suicune, ice beam! Ho-Oh, physic!" The girl continued down the line. "Ditto, uh, transform!"

The Pokemon obeyed immediately. A cloak of shadows appeared around Umbreon, shielding her from view. She struck the moment Suicune released his own attack, freezing several of the attacking creatures entirely, the lucky ones who had dodged being torn down by the dark creature's claws. Ho-Oh and Silver's Lugia each let out an ear-piercing roar, before releasing a large surge of physic energy, causing a large portion of the attackers the combust upon themselves. Ditto, just barely managing to dodge out of way from the Marowaks' fangs, chose instantly to transform into Suicune. It's amorphous body slowly shifted, gaining form and a wider array of colour. Longs legs grew from its now existent body as a prominent muzzle appeared at the front of its forming face. Umbreon snorted a little at this decision, but continued on fighting.

"Don't command your Pokemon to use bite, or any other move that could result in the exchange of body fluids." Silver advised solemnly. "You don't know what chemicals these things are carrying."

"But Silver..." Lyra began softly, snapping to coordinate her Pokemon's attacks. She raised her voice a little so it'd be audible over the sounds of fighting. "What ARE they?"

The male trainer's icy eyes shifted towards her. "Why do you think I would know that?" His voice held a tone of restraint, he clearly already knew the answer to that question.

"Because..." Lyra broke off momentarily as Meganium was smashed into a wall. Commanding the female Pokemon to use synthesis, she thought of how to answer. "Uh... Well, you uh..."

Silver sighed slowly. "They're some sort of experiment. I'd expect this dates back to when they were hunting for Cubone skulls back in Kanto, over six years ago." His voice shook lightly with rage. Lyra could tell the fact he was associated with these people hurt him. After calling out a few more attacks for his various Pokemon, he went on. "Cubone skulls are very valuable on the black market. Marowak skulls, however, are worthless, as they are impossible to removed without causing severe damage to them. To get the skulls they desired without any hassle, Team Rocket had to kill the mother Marowak's. This must be their way of making them useful." Silver lowered his gaze. "Team Rocket may be a group of pathetic little bastards, but they certainly know how to make the best of their resources."

Among the sounds of the contending Pokemon, an echoing clapping sound rang out, slow, and almost sarcastic. The red haired rival grit his teeth at the sound. Lyra felt her already racing heart speed up.

"Very good little Silver," the voice from before giggled. "You really are the boss' son." Her tone was laced with cruel, poisonous pride.

Silver stiffened, balling his fists together.

"Who are you?!" Lyra snapped, praying that Silver wouldn't lose his temper. "What are you doing here?!"

The anonymous woman paused. "Lyra, isn't it? So naive! Do you honestly expect me to just tell you everything, merely because you inquired so?" She let out a high-pitched laugh, a terrible, cackling chuckle.

The brunette bit her lip. She struggled not to lose focus, calling out attacks for her Pokemon all the while. The woman's footsteps sounded as to be circling the action, but with the screams and constant noises of impact, if was difficult to decipher the exact location.

"You know, it really is a miracle you three children managed to take out the old organization." Lyra could practically see her icy grin. "A pipsqueak, a traitor and his precious girlfriend! Not to mention you're 'ingenious' little plans!" When both refused to answer, she continued on gleefully. "Leaving the midget alone? How well do you think he's doing know that you know the suspicions were correct?"

Lyra's eyes widened. "Gold!"

"Is that his name? Cute. It's none of my concern anyways. Once I've finished off with you two my companions will have already taken good care of him." She broke off with another little chuckle.

Then female trainer felt rage build up inside her, fuelled by pure panic and self-hatred. Narrowing her eyes, she ran forward, fully ready to attack their offender at any cost.

"YOU BITCH!" She screamed, sprinting full force ahead. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?!"

"Lyra, stop!" Silver shouted from behind her.

But it was too late. The moment Lyra became aware of what she was doing, she had built up too much momentum to stop in time. She was only two steps, one step, away from the writhing mass of mutilated creatures...

A heavy force stuck her, sending her spiraling back and into Silver's arms. The girl stumbled weakly as he steadied her. Her mind raced. What had saved her? Just then, a terrifying scream echoed sharply throughout the torn building.

Ho-Oh failed its massive coloured wing madly, its golden beak open and shrieking in what could only be described with pure pain. At the end of the majestic creature's limb, a bloodied Marowak hung, its teeth clamped firmly into the skin.

"What..." Lyra began slowly, eyes wide with horror. "What's happening?!"

Ho-Oh fell to the ground, convulsing madly. Blood mixed with white foam dribbled from its beak, its continuing screams having torn the throat. Pupils shrunk, revealing bloodshot eye whites.

"Lyra, recall it!" Silver demanded from beside her, signaling Lugia to fly higher.

"But-"

"There's nothing you can do to help it! Just call it back!"

The terrible feeling of raw guilt coursing through her, Lyra obliged. The Pokeball felt heavy in her hand as she retracted the bird like Pokemon. Because of her carelessness, Ho-Oh had suffered.

"Do you understand now?" The voice spoke up again, footsteps becoming audible once more. "The saliva on my precious little darlings teeth is an acidic substance, raising the level of pain within one's body to a maximum. Your Ho-Oh will survive, as it is powerful enough to withstand such a blow." She paused. "... But are you?"

Beads of sweat formed on the girl's forehead. Suddenly, the mass of creatures seemed closer then ever. She could see the panic evident in her Pokemon's eyes, Umbreon constantly casting her terrified glances.

"Silver..." She whispered, edging closer to him with every swipe of the approaching Marowaks claws. "What are we going to do?"

Silver blinked thoughtfully, watching as his Magnizone blasted several of the creatures into pieces.

"I don't know." He finally admitted. "We'll just have to stay focused. There's no advancement we can make that I can see." He let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "Ginger, shadow claw."

"Ditto, Hydro pump!" Lyra commanded, before continuing. "But what about Gold?" The girl flinched as the gap left from the previous attack was instantly filled by more Marowak's.

"Tiny can manage for long enough." The rival responded evenly. "And even if he couldn't, what exactly could we do?" He cast her a glance. "You already tried."

Lyra swallowed her growing embarrassment with a nod. Was every decision she made going to backfire horribly?

'Gold'll be alright...' She promised herself, snapping her fingers to inform Suicune to use ice beam. 'He's stronger then he looks...' That wasn't saying much. The girl turned her head to look at Silver. 'Besides... I think Silver needs my help more then he's willing to accept..."

Unbeknownst to them, a single Marowak amongst the army of hundreds crept forward, keeping low and avoiding all attacks from the numerous opposing Pokemon. It's swollen purple tongue slid across the soured surface if it's exposed skull, eyes gleaming with maliciousness and hunger. From this point, it got a perfect view of the red haired trainer. It knew, that with a strong enough leap, it could attack him, tearing him limb from limb and savoring the sweet flesh if its victim. The Marowak licked its lips again. It knew no risk.

Before anyone could even so much as flinch, it flew through the air, and sunk its teeth deep into the flesh of Silver's shoulder.

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"Shit shit shit shit SHIT." Gold hissed, backing up from Ameera without a hint of grace. Panic flared in his heart as he saw the civilians of Ecruteak city sprinting out of their homes, their screams hidden by the roar of the shaking ground.

Flipping over to see the Team Rocket member, he demanded. "How the hell did you do that?!"

His question was answered with a punch to the face. The blow set off enough momentum to send the boy spiraling to the ground, where her struggled to get up with the massive tremors.

Ameera smirked, walking over to him in such a fashion it was evident she had been trained for situations such as this. "Aww, is the little baby scared of a bit of vibration?" She mock cooed.

Gold wiped the tiny stream of blood that had trickled out the corner of his mouth, eyes narrowed with rage.

"Sudowoodo, use-" Suddenly, he froze. "...Sudowoodo?"

The tree like Pokemon was laying on the ground several paces away, shuddering lightly with pain. The earthquake evidentially hadn't done it justice. Beside him, Espeon let out a few strangled yowls, his ears flatted against his head. The noise was what got him.

The woman outright laughed at Gold's shocked expression. "Funny how such a small thing can just destroy everything, isn't it?" With that, she kicked him sharply in the stomach. "Reminds me of something..."

Winded, Gold just managed to glare at her through his bangs. Chest heaving madly as he fought to regain his breath, he struggled to his feet. The rumbling once again almost knocked him to the ground.

"What... Do... You... Want from... Me?" He gasped, arms clasped over his stomach.

"What do we want from you?" Ameera mimicked in a falsely sweet tone of voice. Her arm flashed out, grabbing the young trainer by the front of the jacket and yanking him off the ground with ease. Pulling him in to meet her eye-to-eye. "We want your Typhlosion, brat."

Gold struggled against her iron grip.

"My Typholsion?" He repeated, not sure if he had heard her correctly. He could feel the earthquake petering out.

"Enough of your bullshit," she snapped. "Hand it over. I'm not afraid to make you."

The boy growled under his breath, kicking her as hard and as fast as he could. It was a pathetic attempt though, as the woman merely looked at him like 'seriously? Was that supposed to hurt?'

Gold had never been the strongest kid on the block.

"And why should I?!" He retorted boldly, refusing to back down against his intimidating opponent.

Ameera smiled cruelly in response, almost as if she had been hoping for that answer.

"Hmm, why should you? Oh! Maybe its cause if you don't I'll do _this._" And with that, the woman whipped him mercilessly into the hard exterior of the Burnt Tower.

Gold's exceedingly light weight mixed with the power of the brute force that is Ameera made the collision with the wall a very painful one. The black haired boy's face was literally smashed into the building, the terrible tang of crimson blood filling up his mouth and pouring heavily from his nose. A long, red streak of said substance was left behind as he slid down the brown wooden surface. He lay on the ground, shuddering a little, before a small cracking sound filled his ears.

Feeling an awful pounding sensation in his head, Gold peeled his face off the now sticky grass to find a small crack, branching up from the bottom of the tower, making its way up the side of the wall. No thicker then a pencil, it shouldn't have caused much concern….

It was then that cold realization hit him.

The Burnt Tower, already an extremely ancient piece of architecture, had been in increasingly bad condition as of late, such bad condition that it wouldn't take too much to have it give way completely.

And an earthquake would do just the trick.

Despite the fact that the shaking was all but gone, the crack continued it's way up, steadily growing bigger and bigger. Gold struggled to push himself upright. He had to warn the others….

"Lyra!" He called desperately, praying she could hear him. "Silver! You have to get-" Any further cries were cut off by Ameera slamming her foot down heavily upon his head.

"Shut up you little brat, there's no use in begging for help." She kicked him sharply in the side for seemingly no other reason then her own personal pleasure. Turning around, she spoke to her co-worker. "Yo, Cecelia! You've been kinda quiet. You wanna come help me? You'll get a real _kick _out of it!' Smirking, the woman repeated her previous action several more times.

Cecelia rolled her eyes at the shameless pun. "I'm watching after these two so they don't attack you." She cast a glance towards Espeon and Sudowoodo, both of which were being pinned down by twin Leafeon. Espeon let out a low sounding growl, which she merely ignored. "And besides, couldn't you just take it from him? Is this really necessary?" The browned haired female turned her vision to Gold, eyes not reflecting any sympathy for the injured boy, but more so disdain.

Ameera crossed her arms with a pout.

"Well, yeah." She admitted, looking down towards her victim. "But this is more fun. Hey, wait…." She turned her full attention onto the boy. "What's that you've got there?"

Gold glared up at her, his face smeared with blood and sweat. His tiny frame shook as he sucked in breaths. In his shaking hands, he held a single pokeball, gripping onto it like his life depended on it.

"You can't have him…" He hissed defiantly, voice muffled due to the heavy swelling in his cheek.

Hands on hips. Ameera stalked over to him, lips forming a straight line. Bending down, she whispered icily.

"You think you're so tough, don't you?" Gold shivered at the tone in her voice. "Let me tell you a secret. If you get in the way of out plans, some of my cohorts aren't afraid of snapping your little neck. You're lucky I've been so nice. Now," she grabbed the pokeball, "give it to me."

Gold refused to let go, even as he felt himself left off the ground, again left suspending in the air by Ameera's hand. His arms shook as he forced himself not the let go of the precious object. "No."

Ameera gave him an annoyed look, making a 'tut tut' noise with her tongue. "You really don't learn, do you?" Shaking her head as if in disappointment, she brought her arm back, hand balling into a fist.

Gold's eyes went wide with horror, before he quickly squeezed them shut, attempting to brace himself for the pain that was about to come. The attempt was proven fruitless, however, as he couldn't hold back a strangled cry of pain as the woman punched him with pure, unrestrained force directly in the center of his midsection. His hands were dislodged from the orb, sending him flying back, where he slammed heavily down onto the ground. Coughing madly, the boy curled up into a shivering little ball. A few tears of pain slipped out from the corners of his eyes.

Ameera grinned cruelly, spinning the ball around on her forefinger, before sliding it back down to her palm.

"Cecelia? Do you have the supplies?"

Cecelia signed deeply, nodding. Through his bleary vision Gold could see the woman reaching into what looked like a medical bag at her hip, pulling forth a syringe filled with a blue-ish liquid. In her other hand she held the pokeball she and Ameera had been talking about when he first arrived. Feeling himself go cold, Gold opened his mouth to shout, but only made a weak gurgling noise, his swollen mouth too full of blood to form any coherent sentences.

Ameera's look of disgusting pleasure deepened as the other team member stood beside her. "Right. Now when I send it out, you must immediately inject it with the drug. Before it has any chance of figuring out what's going on and attacking. Once it's weak enough, that baby's ours. Understood?" Cecelia nodded. "Good. Now, prepare yourself. On one, two…. Three!"

As Ameera thrust the ball into the air, the Pokemon they were met with was not the one they had been hoping for. Large, red and scaly, the dragon like Pokemon let out an ear-shattering roar. White frills shuddered against the wind. A large crimson tail thrashed madly about. Flipping her head around, the shiny Gyarados turned to look at the two thieves, eyes alight with rage.

Cecelia let out a shriek of surprise, instinctively dropping the needle in her hands. Beside her, Ameera's face glowed with disbelief.

"You… Y-You…" She began slowly, eye twitching slightly.

At that very moment, Gyarados' tail harshly smacked the two Leafeon that held her fellow team member captive. Yelping out in pain, the grass evolutions tumbled off to the side, freeing Gold's Pokemon.

"Sudowoodo, return!" Gold commanded weakly, clicking the button on said Pokemon's pokeball. As the light enveloped the tree-like Pokemon, the young trainer signaled for Espeon to come.

Espeon obeyed immediately, ducking beneath the water type's thrashing tail and sprinting over to its mater's side as quickly as it could manage. Crouching beside him, the pink cat gave him a few supportive licks as he forced himself to his feet.

"Y…You tricked us!" Ameera finally snapped, rage radiating off of her. Cecelia backed up slowly, trembling.

"Gyarados, thrash!" Gold commanded, ignoring his attackers shouts.

Letting out another terrifying howl, the large dragon failed madly, smashing her head into the ground in front of the Team Rocket members. Cecelia screamed, and even Ameera made a scared little yelp. Not wanting to stick around for any longer, Gold scooped up Espeon into his arms and made a dash for it.

The boy couldn't help but feel a strange, over-lying guilt for what he'd done. He knew how dangerous Gyarados' could be, especially if they went on a rampage. But the aching pain that was coursing through his body kept him from going back. Not to mention the state of panic he was in for his companions (mostly Lyra's) safety.

He had barely gotten a good twenty paces away from the building when he felt a sudden shift in the earth. Another earthquake.

'Not again!' Gold cursed silently, feeling the heavy rumbling steadily growing beneath his feet. The boy clutched Espeon closer to his chest. His already trembling legs fought to keep balance.

"Gold!' The boy's head snapped up at the sound of his name, head flipping around to see who had called him.

"Morty?" He blinked in surprise, seeing the aforementioned gym leader running up too him.

"Gold," Morty repeated, slowing to a halt in front of the younger trainer. 'You have to get out of here, the building's-" He cut himself off, looking concerned. "You're bleeding."

"That's not important right now!" Gold snapped, more harshly then he meant to. He attempted to wipe the blood from his face with the sleeve of his jacket, but only ended up making it worse. "Lyra and Silver are inside the burnt Tower! I have to warn them!"

Morty caught the end of his jacket as he attempted to run of. "No." He shook his head calmly. "It's too dangerous. They'll have to help themselves."

"What if the exists are blocked off?!" Gold cried desperately, fighting to be freed. "I _have _to go!"

"Gold, listen to me-" The ghost trainer began, but was cut off.

"No, _you _listen to _me." _The boy hissed defiantly. "You have a town full of people trying desperately go get out, _you _need to help them. _I _need to help Lyra and Silver, because at the moment, I'm the only one that can." His gaze didn't waver. "We're in on the same boat, Morty."

The gym leader was silent for a moment, clearly considering what the boy had just said.

"You're stubbornness will be the death of you." He sighed, releasing Gold, who looked at him with shock. "Very well you may help them."

Gold starred at him for a moment, at a loss for words, before nodding, sprinting off towards the tower.

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**Welp. That took forever to write and I have no idea why. **

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed! You're all amazing! **

**Feedback is very, very, very much appreciated! **

**~*Galefire*~ **

**(I suck at action scenes. XP)**


	6. Chapter 6: Agony

**This story is so addicting to write. *.* **

**Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own Pokemon. Heaven forbid if I did.**

**I must apologize beforehand if the writing of this chapter is especially low quality. Due to an unfortunate loss of a large section of my file, a **_**lot **_**of normally unnecessary rewriting had to be done, and trust me redoing what I've already worked so hard on was exhausting. So I'm sorry, I still worked as hard on this chapter as I did with all the others, but sometimes life's just gonna walk up and take a shit on your parade. **

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Gold cursed loudly as he once again found himself lying face down on the hard, shuddering ground, the earthquake having knocked him over. Espeon quickly leaped off of his trainer's shoulder, standing patiently beside him with a concerned look in his eyes.

The black haired boy grunted as he pushed himself up, arms shaking ever so slightly. "I swear that woman's caused me some serious damage." He muttered under his breath.

Though his voice held a lighthearted tone, the kind one would use when they were joking around with a friend, inside he was worried. He still felt extremely winded from his beating, making it so that no matter how much air he forced into his lungs, it didn't feel like enough. What didn't help was every-time he tried to breathe deeply, a sharp pain would shoot through his torso. As Gold sat himself up into a kneeling position, the aching feeling generating from his heavily bruised stomach intensified, causing the young trainer to wince.

Espeon nudged him lightly, letting out a gentle mewing sound.

Gold smiled faintly. Sticking out his arm, he allowed the cat-like Pokemon to crawl back onto his perch on his shoulder.

"I'm fine Espe," He promised, seeing the pink creature's concerned expression. "Just a little sore is all."

Espeon narrowed his eyes. He was a physic type. He _knew _what others were feeling and he _knew _when someone was in pain. Growling a little, he used his tail to lash his trainer on the back of the head.

"Espeon!" Gold hissed, now having managed to stand up. "I'm _fine." _Espeon gave him a doubtful look. "Seriously!"

The boy broke out into a run, struggling to maintain balance with the shifting ground beneath him.

"And even if I wasn't," he went on with a serious tone. "I'm not the top-priority right now. Ly' and Silver are."

Espeon let out a little sigh of defeat. Bobbing his head in begrudging agreement, the pink cat turned away from his stubborn owner. Suddenly, he let out a yowl of surprise, purple eyes widening and ears shooting up with shock. Confused, Gold turned away from his Pokemon to see….

A little old lady, with greying hair and sunken cheeks, blocking his path. A cheerful smile was set upon her aged features, complimented by closed eyes almost hidden by wrinkles. Gold gasped in shock, grinding his feet into the ground to slow himself, just barely stopping in front of her.

"Watch where you're going, young'un." She said in a playfully warning tone.

"Uh, right…." Gold looked up to her with a nervous nod. Inwardly, he was detesting the fact that someone so tiny looking was taller then him. Was he really _that _short? "Sorry…"

Dipping his head in apology, he kicked off to the right to walk around her. To his surprise, and extreme annoyance, however, she too moved off to the right, though seemed to have no intensions of going anywhere.

"Um, excuse me?" Gold snapped. From in front of him, a loud crash could be heard, sending a shiver racing down the young boy's spine. He was unable to pinpoint exactly what that was however, as the lady's body was blocking his view of the tower entirely.

With no warning what so ever, the elderly woman suddenly grabbed hold of his wrists, causing the boy to recoil in shock. Her grip was painfully tight. No matter how hard Gold tugged, she wouldn't let go. Smiling, she steadily began to push him away from the tower.

"Peacha berries grow just outside of town, darling. How about I show you to them?" Her joyous expression began to look almost disturbing.

"I don't care about your Arceus-damn berries!" He cried in desperation. Digging his heels into the ground, her attempted to shove her back, to no avail. He wasn't seriously being overpowered by an old lady, was he? Gold _had _always been noticeably weaker then other kids his age, but this was just ridiculous!

"Come with me, dearest, come with me." Damn she was persistent.

On his shoulder, Espeon let out a low-sounding snarl.

"Please!" The black haired trainer was all but begging her. "I need to help them!" He didn't even care she had no idea who he was talking about.

The woman's eyes opened for the first time, revealing milky white irises and clouded pupils. Her face set itself into a look of grim acceptance. "Only they who can help themselves will survive the uprising, dear Gold."

Gold stopped struggling as soon as he heard his name. Beside him, Espeon fell silent, cocking his head curiously.

"H-how did you-?!"  
"The peacha berries are the cure, my darling. The only cure. They grow just outside of town…." The woman released him, tears rising up in her eyes. "…But you wouldn't listen to me, and now it's too late."

Gold felt his heart sink. Rubbing his wrist, he asked slowly, "what are you trying to tell me?"

"Simple…." Suddenly, the woman's head snapped up. A maniacal grin was set upon her face, drool dripping out from the corners of her mouth. With a terrible, cackling laugh that tied the young boy's stomach in a knot, she exclaimed, "_**YOU'RE GOING TO DIE HERE!" **_

The trainer flinched away, face holding a raw look of terror. Before he could so much as open his mouth, however, a green, vine-like tendril reached out from behind her, wrapping its way around her neck. The old woman was roughly thrown into the air, her expression growing blank. Slowly, another set of vines wrapped around her midsection, digging deeply into her skin.

"Hey! What the hell's going on?!" Gold shouted. He made a frantic attempt to jump and pull her down to safety, but it was useless. She was far too high up.

Suddenly, an idea hit him. Turning to Espeon, he began, "Espeon, use phys-"

But it was too late. Without any warning nor indication, the tendrils around her neck pulled sharply to the right. A loud _snap_ could be heard as the bones in her throat were broken, instantly ending her life.

The boy stood, frozen with horror as the elderly lady's lifeless body was pulled back. His heart beating at a thousand miles per hour, he tore his gaze away from the corpse, facing the creature that had attacked her.

A Victreebel stood there, larger then most of its species at about seven feet and glaring venomously at the boy. Swiftly, it retracted its vines, carrying the body along with them. Opening its mouth as wide as it could manage, the grass type held the corpse high above itself, before releasing.

Gold felt his stomach plummet as the yellow creature began to convulse, shuddering as the acid inside it digested its prey. Its vines flailed around madly. A look of extreme pleasure flashed through its eyes, only worsening the sickly feeling.

"Is that good, sweetie?" A voice cooed out from behind it. The boy went pale as he recognized who it was, mind flaring with disbelief.

"How…. How did you escape my Gyarados?!" Gold exclaimed, instinctively taking a step back.

Cecelia grinned, having walked into plain view. Stroking the Victreebel's smooth side, she said, "Oh, it wasn't much of a hassle. With Ameera still fighting it I had no problem slipping away." The brown haired woman shrugged, smirking at his mortified expression. "You best leave and go to a hospital, the last person to fall victim to Ameera died of severe internal damage. And he wasn't even a tiny one like you!"

Gold's knees turned to jelly at her words. He found himself wrapping his arms around his midsection. Was that what was wrong with him? Had the woman delivered enough blows to not only damage him on the outside, but on the inside as well? The very thought made him feel sick, his face paling slightly.

'No,' Gold thought with a shake of his head. 'I'm perfectly fine, she's just making that up to lure me away.' Composure now regained, her glared up at her.

"I just saw you kill an innocent woman and then allow your Pokemon to eat her," he spat shakily. "Do you honestly expect me to just leave?"

"It doesn't really matter to me," she responded evenly, taking a step forwards. "I was only giving you a warning. What's important is that you're not going to get inside the tower."

Espeon let out a hiss, lashing his tail furiously. Gold placed a hand on the cat's back, calming him with a few gentle strokes.

"What makes you so sure of that?" The boy forced his tone to remain even. "I took you down once, I can do it again."

"Yes, indeed you did, but let me remind you who ended up running away at the very end?" Gold glowered at her, hating her sudden confidence. "Not to mention there were only two of us then, now, there's five." With that, she snapped her fingers.

Four men, each clad in in identical black outfits jumped out from the bushes, rushing to the woman's side. Each man's expression was stoic, devoid of any emotion. All eyes glared back at the boy.

"Don't do this to yourself, Gold." Cecelia warned. "You know you can't win."

Gold grit his teeth, his mind racing, yet still he held his ground. Reaching down to his loose fitting belt, he took hold of Typhlosion's and Sudowoodo's Pokeballs, deciding to leave Togekiss in safety in case he needed to escape. Understanding what his master was about to do, Espeon leaped to the still shaking ground, baring his fangs warningly.

The woman starred at him for a moment, as if contemplating whether or not her was serious. Realizing he was, she let out a little laugh. "Really now? Well, I suppose it can't be helped. I gave you more then a fair chance to save yourself. Boys, attack."

The effect was instant. As soon as those last words left her mouth, the four men leaped into action, each one sending out their own Pokemon from the Pokeballs they held. Houndoom, Gliscor, Poliwrath and Porygon-Z, each one fully healed and radiating with viciousness. Not wasting a second, Gold too sent out his remaining two Pokemon, wincing when he realized the odds. Though Typhlosion was perfectly healthy and ready for battle, both Sudowoodo and Espeon had been injured from the last fight, and looked exhausted. Gold cursed under his breath, wondering if retreating was his only option.

"Espeon, physic!" He commanded, not wanting one of them to get the first strike.

Espeon meowed in response, his red crystal lighting up and glowing with physic energy. Digging his back legs into the ground, the cat Pokemon released a powerful wave of spectacular blue light, sending it hurdling towards Poliwrath. Poliwrath was prepared for this, however, and leaped to the side, dodging the attack with a simple call from her master. Another command issued out, buried by the roar of the earthquake, and before Gold knew it Poliwrath was flying towards the tree-like Pokemon, fist drawn out in front of her.

"Sudowoodo, Rock Thrown!" Gold ordered loudly.

Sudowoodo obeyed, forming a rock with his oddly coloured hands as swiftly as he could. Once he had made a formidably sized rock, he flung it full-throttle as the attacking blue Pokemon.

The attempt was useless, Poliwrath merely smashed through the stone, sending little pieces of debris flying everywhere. Now in an arms length away from Sudowoodo, the water-type delivered a punch so powerful that a terrible cracking noise could be heard all around the battlefield, despite the noise of the earthquake. Fainting instantly, the rock-type fell to the ground with a _thump. _The boy took the few seconds Poliwrath took to recover as an opportunity to attack, and soon the rivaling Pokemon fell too due to a well-aimed thunder-punch from Typhlosion.

As Typhlosion slid back from his attack, Gold spoke up.

"Espeon, Typholsion, do you guys think you can fight by yourselves for a moment?" Both Pokemon nodded, before quickly rushing back into the action. Feeling relieved, the boy sprinted over to his fallen Pokemon.

Sudowoodo stirred a little as his trainer kneeled down beside him, eyes dull with exhaustion. He let out a low creaking noise as he turned to the young boy.

Gold winced momentarily at the sight of the large crack on his Pokemon's head, but forced on a brave face never less.

"You did great, Sudowoodo." He whispered to him, patting him on the arm. "I'm just going to need you to hold up for a little longer and I'll heal you, okay?' Sudowoodo nodded weakly. "Thank you." With a supportive smile, Gold lifted his Pokeball and retracted him in a flash of bright white light.

"Gliscor, X-Scissor." The smooth, controlled voice of one of the men caught the young boy's attention as he got up, causing him to flip around. He had expected to see the flying type Pokemon to be going for Espeon, given one strong move with a type advantage would be more then enough to knock the cat out cold. To his surprise, however, Gliscor was nowhere near Espeon, as he was currently locked in heavy combat with Porygon-Z. Typhlosion, who was at the other side of the battle, was currently pummeling the poor Houndoom into the dust with a flurry of thunder-punches, the aforementioned Pokemon out of sight.

A screech echoed out from above Gold, and in a split second his confusion turned to terror. Diving at him, with talons outstretched and fangs bared venomously, was Gliscor. Her eyes flashed with bloodlust, her claws glowed red.

Letting out a cry of shock, the boy jumped backwards just in time to dodge the attack, sliding backwards with one hand on the ground to steady himself. Gliscor slashed the ground in front of him, letting out a hiss of annoyance.

"Why would you-"A sudden pain in his midsection cut off the black haired trainer's question. It was a terrible, ripping sensation, feeling as if the movement had made a tear in his stomach. Barely stifling a gasp, he stumbled backward, clutching at his side.

Sensing his diversion, Gliscor sprang into action. Her hooked claw was aimed almost directly at the source of his discomfort as she dove in. Gold sidestepped clumsily, feeling the _whoosh _of air as the attack grazed the skin on his arm. His chest heaved, the winded feeling still ever-so present. The flying type was persistent, however, and leaped at him once more.

The pattern continued onwards, Gliscor swiping at him relatedly as he dodged, each slash getting closer and closer by the second. The pain was worsening, getting to the point that it was almost overbearing. Gold's vision had started a blur slightly when he felt his back press against something.

A rock. A dead-end. He was corned.

Gliscor seemed aware of this fact too, as her grin practically leaped off her face. Eyes lighting up once more, she raised her talon, aiming it at the young boy's stomach. Gold squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head away. There was nothing he could do, there was nowhere to run. He could only pray it ended quickly….

The blow never came, as a flash of blazing orange fire from the right sent the purple creature flying off away from the trainer. Breathing heavily, the boy looked up, his amber gaze meeting Typhlosion's friendly red one. He took a step forward, only to cough and stumble. The fire type steadied him gently.

Gold shuddered slightly. The pain had yet to go away. "What's…. wrong…. with… me?" He whispered shakily.

"Bravo, bravo!" Gold straightened up, narrowing his eyes. Turning around, he saw Cecelia strolling towards him- casually- as if she hadn't a care in the world. She flashed him a cocky grin, clapping her hands in a sarcastic manner. "You really are impressive, knocking out four elite-trained Pokemon with only three." Gold shifted his gaze, seeing Espeon starring back at him with the still forms of Porygon-Z and Houndoom sprawled around him. "_But, _that can only get you so far."

The boy remained silent, glowering up at her as she stopped before him. Typhlosion barred his fangs defensively, just daring her to lay a finger on his trainer.

"Do you honestly think that we all only carry around just one Pokemon?" She asked. "Foolish child…. Boys, show him what you have left."

"Yes Cecelia." The four said simultaneously, their voices combining in an almost demonic sounding way.

The sky became alight with the flashes of Pokeballs within a second. Gold grunted, shielding his eyes with a raised arm. Through his squinted gaze, he could just make out the forms of many large Pokemon rapidly growing clearer and clearer. Espeon let out a shocked yowl, rushing over and pressing himself against Gold's leg in panic.

As the brightness died down, Gold lowered his arm, instantly becoming flooded with a terrible sense of hopelessness. Parasect, Slowking, Electivire, Magmotar, Mamoswine, Fearow, Scizor, Alakazam, Golem, Gengar….. Tones upon tones of ruthlessly powerful Pokemon surrounded the three, each holding a shared look of blind rage in their eyes. The boy grit his teeth as he heard Cecelia laugh once more.

"Still believe you've got a chance? It doesn't matter how good you are, there's no way you can put up a fight against so many powerful foes." Her smirk deepened. "Admit it. You lost."

Gold starred back at her, entirely lost for words. Typhlosion stepped closer towards him. It was evident from the look in the fire-types eyes that he would back up whatever decision his trainer made to the death, whether or not her agreed with it.

The petite boy felt his heart melt. He couldn't do this.

"Well, well, perhaps your not such a fool after all." Cecelia practically sang, watching him pull out his two Pokemon's Pokeballs.

Typhlosion let out a panicked roar, grabbing his trainer's arm that held his capsule device. Gold looked up at him slowly. His dull gaze made it clear he was fighting to suppress a look of terror.

The eruption Pokemon shook his head wildly, but Gold only nodded.

"I'm sorry…." He whispered in a cracked voice. "I have no choice…." Typhlosion let out one last, heartbroken roar, before the light consumed him, locking him inside the spherical device.

"Come on, come on, we don't have all day!" Cecelia snapped impatiently. Gold glared at her as he finished retracting Espeon. "Let's make this quick, hand over the Typhlosion and you're free to move on with your life."

Gold let out a deep, shaky sigh, his eyes hidden by his bangs. Refusing to look up, he muttered "no."

The woman was taken aback. "What?!"

There was a moment of hesitation.

"I said…. No." The boy repeated firmly. He locked his starter's Pokeball securely onto his belt, looking up fiercely.

Cecelia's eye twitched. "You must be some kind of moron. Have we not _proven _what we'll do to you if you don't give us what we want?! Do you honestly think _you'll _be able to survive another beating?! You're barely standing as it is!" Her laugh was forced as she noted his trembling legs.

It was a battle not to look away. "I don't care what you do to me. You're _not _taking him as long as I'm still standing." Apparently luck then decided to turn against him, as at that very moment a powerful shift of earth nearly flung him to the ground. Gold flushed slightly as a chorus of laugher rang out, but refused to react any further. A few of the surrounding Pokemon stepped forwards.

Cecelia sighed. "I hate talking to children…. Boys, call your Pokemon off, I'll deal with this myself." As the men snapped to signal their Pokemon to step back, Cecelia strolled towards the boy.

"Look, _honey," _A sickeningly sweet scent washed over Gold as the woman bent way down to face him, tone ice cold. He held his ground regardless. "I'm not the kind of person to hurt a child for no good reason. The fact that you're so tiny doesn't make this any easier on me. But I'm not afraid to do what I have to. So please, just hand it over."

Gold looked her in the eye for the longest time, silent, before answering with the only words he found fit.

"I'm _not _tiny."

The woman took a moment to process his response, before merely shrugging.

"Very well. The only person you have to blame is yourself, Gold." Without a hint of hesitation in her voice, she called: "Victreebel, use Vine whip!"

A long, green tendril lashed out from behind the Rocket member, flinging itself towards him. The boy didn't move- _he couldn't move. _And before one word could be uttered, the vine wrapped around his midriff, flinging him into the air with it.

A searing pain ripped through Gold the moment the plant touched him, and had only worsened now that he was suspended above ground by it. He forced himself not to cry out. He refused to show any further weakness.

Cecelia's expression was blank as her Pokemon brought the trainer towards her. There was not a hint of remorse or guilt at the pain she was causing.

"Does this make you happy?" Gold spat in a wavering tone as he was brought up to her, trying his best to keep his expression as even as hers.

The attempt was apparently fruitless. "Scream Gold." She instructed him sourly. "I can tell you want to. I know how much pain you're in." Her eyes turned to slits. "You're not proving anything."

The grip on his stomach tightened further. Breathing, as difficult as it had been before, became an impossible practice. Gold gagged as blood bubbled up at his lips, thick and metallic tasting. The only sound he could manage was a weak rasping noise.

Cecelia wiped the blood from his face with the tips of her fingers, her sharpened nails biting into his skin. "That's not natural, you know." She hinted cruelly.

"Why should you care?" Gold hissed, only barely managing to have found his voice. "You're part of Team Rocket, you should want me… to… die….." He broke off in a fit of excruciating coughs. He felt almost ready to slip out of consciousness.

Cecelia chuckled. "How cute of you. But despite what you might imagine, I am human. I have further ambitions then merely killing off a child." She shook her head, amused. "I didn't join this organization to fulfill my satanic urges. I simply joined because when our plans succeed, I'll be on top of the world."

Gold was silent.

"But…." She went on when she realized he wasn't going to answer. "I'm afraid you've pushed me a little too far." So stealthily that Gold didn't even feel her do it, the woman snatched Typhlosion's pokeball from him, proudly holding it close enough for him to see, but too far away to reach. "I'll take that."

Gold was stiff with horror. "Bu-" A surprisingly forceful slap across the face silenced him.

"Oh shut up. I'm tired of your whining. There's nothing you can do, got it?" The woman sighed heavily. "Had you been silent from the start, I wouldn't have to kill you. You simply know to much." Through his terror, the boy felt a pang of confusion. What was she talking about? He barely knew _anything_. "But if I have to, I might as well make it fun."

As she spoke, the woman stalked over towards her Victreebel, a maniacal grin growing on her face. Stopping beside it, she stroked the tall Pokemon's smooth side.

Cold, dead silence filled the air as Cecelia eyed him evilly. Finally, in an almost sickeningly sly tone of voice, she asked:

"…. You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"

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"_SILVER!" _Lyra's panicked scream echoed through tower as she watched the Marowak's teeth big deep into the red haired trainer's shoulder, eyes growing wide with pure horror.

Silver stumbled to the ground, a blank look of disbelief set upon his features. Blood fell thickly to the floor, the source of which still being gnawed on by the gruesome creature. The Marowak's disgusting length of pleasure was cut short, however, as at that very moment Feraligatr surged forwards in defense of her trainer. Her claws slashed through the creature like butter. Organs flew through the air, smashing into a wall at the other end of the room and bursting into an acidic black substance. Roaring so loudly the room shook with vibration, the blue Pokemon flipped around to face the Marowak's, a snarl rumbling up in her throat and a wild look in her eyes.

Lyra ran towards the rival at top speed, her heart hammering madly inside her chest and her body numb with shock. Silver hadn't moved from his spot on the ground. The only proof he was still living was the chocked, heaving breaths raking through his trembling figure.

"Silver!" Lyra cried again as she crouched beside him. "A-are you alright?" It was a stupid question, and she knew it.

Silver attempted to push himself up, namesake eyes heavily ridden with pain.

"I'm fi…" His gruff reply was cut off by a strangled gasp as a terrible wave of agony washed over him, knocking him to the ground. Blood poured out faster then ever from his wounded shoulder.

Without hesitating for even a moment, the brunette grabbed at one of her short red sleeve and pulled as hard as she possibly could. The desperation of the situation must have enhanced her strength as the fabric ripped from its seams instantly. Slipping the material down her arm, she tore it once more, this time in half, and turned to the red haired trainer.

Silver, meanwhile, wasn't doing so good. In his desperate attempt to keep from crying out, he had bitten his lip to the point where blood was dribbling down his chin. Saliva poured out from his lips, a wild look of agony present in his gaze. His nails dug deeply into the wooden floor as pain ripped through his entire being.

Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing her voice to sound soothing despite her obvious terror. "Silver… I need you to stay as calm as possible. I have to stop the bleeding."

The rival mumbled weakly, only to be cut off by an agonized gasp. Coughs shuddered through his blazing lungs, only worsening his condition.

"It's gonna be okay…." Lyra whispered softly, praying her words were true. Gently, she began to wrap the torn pieces of fabric around the wound, putting as much pressure as she dared onto it. Silver let out what almost sounded like a muffed whimper, tightening his grip on the ground.

It was then that the brunette felt a tremor beneath her, her heart skipping a beat. All around them, the fight fell still, all the Marowaks looking around in confusion. Umbreon cast a nervous glance back to her trainer, clearly unsure of what to do.

A loud cracking noise echoed throughout the now silent building as the shaking grew worse. Thin cracks climbed up the already unstable support beams.

"Well isn't this just convenient!" The voiced chided up again, sounding amused. Lyra grit her teeth in annoyance. "Just as precious little Silvy gets a little bite on his shoulder, an earthquake stars up! What perfect timing." She giggled. "You do know what this means, don't you?"  
Lyra bit her tongue, refusing to answer.

The silence was agonizing. "The tower's about to collapse."

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**Wow I'm not happy with this one. :P I had it done for a whole week, thinking of how to fix it, but nothing came to mind, so I'm sorry if this really isn't very good. **

**Anywho, I hoped you enjoyed! **


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